Elgin 'beets' winter snow management blues

Elgin's beet juice solution helps the salt stick to the roads, requiring less calcium chloride.

Photo by Emily Cikanek

It’s the dead of winter in Chicagoland. Weeks of freezing temperatures have formed layers of ice on surface water across the region, from backyard ponds to Lake Michigan. No need to worry about protecting our water, right?  

Wrong.

“Calcium chloride is used in almost all ice and snow clearing products, but it’s a potent ingredient that can kill plants and vegetation, and even erode your car’s underbelly,” said David Lawry, general services director, City of Elgin, Ill.  

As snow and ice melt, corrosive road salt runs off streets and highways and soaks into the earth.  Chloride levels in waterways and shallow aquifers are on the rise, damaging ecosystems, property and water quality. 

For a city like Elgin, which uses about 20 million tons of road salt a year, that’s worrisome.  That’s why Elgin decided to take a more sustainable approach by developing a unique blend of natural products for clearing snow and ice: a little salt, a lot of water, some calcium chloride, and desugarized beet juice.

Yes, beet juice. 

Read on to learn how this juicy little root vegetable is helping Elgin manage snow and ice on the roads, save money, and protect the Fox River. >>

Conservation tips

Buy eco-salts for use at home and work. Bonus: If it’s safer for the environment, it’s also safer for your family’s and your neighbors’ pets.

Plant natural buffers. Plantings and bioswales next to roadways absorb runoff, slowing it down and dissipating pollutants.

Follow the leaders. Encourage your community to call Elgin or McHenry County for more information about using an alternative de-icing solution for snow and ice management.

February 2011
www.chicagolandh2o.org

What Our Water’s Worth is an ongoing campaign led by the Metropolitan Planning Council and Openlands to raise awareness about the value of water in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. From Lake Michigan to the Fox River, how we use our water resources — including what we conserve, how much we waste, and what we choose to invest in water quality — is up to each of us. This is our water — and it's worth more than we know.

WOWW factors

30%
Less anti-icing needed when using eco-friendly solutions such as GeoMelt

$80,000
Saved by Elgin per year as a result of its creative snow and ice management solution

1.5 million tons
Average amount of road salt purchased annually by the Illinois Dept. of Transportation

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