AVON LAKE, Ohio — Winter Salt Awareness Week started Jan. 22. With the rain throughout this week and the snow melting, the salt laid down last week is washing away.

What You Need To Know

  •  Over-salting is harmful to the environment

  •  One coffee mug of salt will salt about 10 sidewalk squares

  • Salt is expensive and difficult to get out of water

How much salt is too much salt? It’s a question you might have asked yourself this winter as you were taking care of your driveway and sidewalks. Experts said that one coffee mug of salt is enough to take care of about 10 sidewalk squares.

 “We think that more is better, when actually less is just as effective,” said Amy Roskilly, Conservation Education & Communications Manager for the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District.

“We are salting at a rate that is just excessive and we don’t need to salt that much,” said Roskilly.

She said one standard 12 ounce coffee mug salts approximately 50 feet of sidewalk if sidewalk squares are about five feet.

“The recommended amount, the granules are about three inches apart,” said Roskilly.

He said over-salting is a problem because much of the runoff ends up in the Great Lakes, which are fresh bodies of water.

“Our rivers and our streams and our lakes are getting saltier because of using road salt and our personal use,” said Roskilly. “It’s something that really spikes in the winter and the spring when we use a lot of salt because it’s wintertime here in Ohio.”

Road salt is another contributing factor, but the EPA monitors how much salt goes onto the roads. Municipalities can take their own measures to cut down on their use of salt.

“One thing the city of Avon does really well is that they brine,” said Joe Reitz, former Public Works Director for Avon Lake. “So they mix the salt with water and spray it on the roads before. You see that on the turnpike. You see that with ODOT, where you see those little white lines on the road. They’re doing that so that initial snow that hits the pavement will melt off right away. That’s more effective. The city of Avon saved almost a third or more of their salt.”

Roskilly said that over-salting is not only bad for the environment. It can transfer over to drinking water.

“Salt is actually really expensive to get out of water. That’s why treatment plants can’t get it out. So it’s actually getting into our lake and drinking water, which can corrode the pipes inside our house. It’s not good for us to drink,” said Roskilly.

You can take a pledge to use the mug method of salting and get a free coffee mug. There is also an educational event about salting Feb. 16.

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