water protection

Who is responsible for all the salt on the ground?

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From where I’m looking there seems to be a love-hate relationship with salt. Sure it is bad for me, groundwater – your drinking water. But when it’s time to deal with snow and ice, there isn’t anything else that works quite like salt.

Have you ever thought about how much of your community is paved? There are the roads, community trails, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots. During the winter, all these areas need to be kept clear of snow and ice for both accessibility and safety.

Figure 1 – Many communities include a lot of paved areas that require salting in the winter. Aerial view of Waterloo Region.

When it comes to the environmental impacts of salt, the tendency is to point the finger at other people and groups. They are the reason so much salt is spread.

What if I told you everyone, to some degree, contributes to the problem but can also be part of the solution. How can that be? You might be thinking “I don’t use much, if any salt” or “I only use such a small amount compared to others”.

That might be so but let’s think about why salt is used. Sure it makes removing snow and ice that much easier by lowering the freezing point when water in its liquid form changes to ice. That’s more of a technical answer but the reasons go much deeper making it a complex problem to solve.

Here are a few of those reasons why so much salt is spread.

  1. Liability. The fear of being sued is one of the biggest reasons businesses spread so much salt. Too much is used and it’s spread even when it’s not needed or when it’s too cold for the salt to be effective.
  2. Salt means safety. When you go for a walk or drive and see salt, it can make you feel safe. You know the property owner is doing their part to clear the snow and ice. But what if you don’t see salt on the ground. Does that mean it isn’t safe? Should you demand the property spread more salt? Maybe there isn’t any ice and salt isn’t necessary. Maybe salt isn’t the right tool for the current weather conditions. Or maybe the right amount of salt has already been put down and has turned into a liquid brine that – even though you can’t see it – is still hard at work. Whatever the reason, salt is not always the right or only tool for dealing with snow and ice. And not seeing salt on the ground doesn’t necessarily mean it is less safe.
sidewalk with too much salt
Figure 2 – Does more salt make you feel safer?

3. Expectations. It’s winter. You are going to have to deal with snow and ice at some point. Yet there is an expectation to be able to travel the same as if it was summer. For this to be a reality can mean more salt spread to speed up the melting process. Is there a way to balance expectations for clear passage while still protecting me – your drinking water – from the damaging impacts of salt?

4. Changing weather. In Southern Ontario, winter can mean snow, freezing rain, rain, warm temperatures, or really cold temperatures. You get where I’m going with this. As weather patterns change, meeting expectations to keep areas clear of snow and ice can be a challenge and might include the spreading of more salt to meet expectations of clear pavement all of the time.

5. Personal safety. Wearing winter boots and switching to winter tires can seem like an inconvenience and an unnecessary expense. But living where there’s snow and ice should include taking these preventative steps to protect yourself. This also means giving yourself extra time to get to your destination and driving, biking or walking for the current weather conditions.

Video: Walk Like a Penguin (Alberta Health Services)

Not everyone uses salt but everyone at some point uses the surfaces that are salted. Changing actions and expectations over time might help support the responsible use of salt required to better protect the environment including me, groundwater – your drinking water, because – well – I think I’m worth protecting.

Cheers, Groundwater

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Maps aren’t just for roads

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Maps are great tools. They can help you find where you are, provide information on nearby landmarks and help guide you to your final destination. Remember the good ole days of paper maps? Now-a-days I’m guessing many of you use a GPS or an APP on your phone to help you get around.

For me – groundwater, I don’t really need a map. Partly because it would be really hard to read down here in the aquifer but mostly because I honestly don’t care where I am or where I end up. For me, there are no borders or boundaries thanks in part to the water cycle.

However, my friends at the Region of Waterloo seem to think otherwise. They like to track my every movement – where I soak into the ground, how long I’m underground and the different paths I take to reach the 120+ municipal supply wells in Waterloo Region.

Each municipal supply well is in a Wellhead Protection Area made up of four zones: 100-metres, 2 years, 5 years and 25 years. The 100-metre zone is the closest to the supply well, with the remaining zones marking the time it takes for me to reach the well.

illustration shows time of travel for groundwater from different points underground to the well. Image credit: Conservation Ontario.
Wellhead Protection Areas surround each municipal supply well in Waterloo Region
Image credit: Conservation Ontario

Understanding the geology of the land

With the help of computer modeling, hydrogeologists can track my movement and use this information to create Wellhead Protection Area maps.

To understand how I move underground you first need to know what materials I’m moving through. Aquifers, where you can find me, are made of different layers of materials such as sand, gravel, clay and bedrock. No two aquifers are the same. The layers in one aquifer can be very different from another. And in fact, the types of materials and how they are layered can change in a single aquifer.

As I slowly move through the spaces between these materials I travel at different rates of speed. Sand is like a sponge, slowing me down as well as acting as a natural filter. Rocks and gravel with larger spaces or cracks provide me with more room so I can travel at a quicker pace compared to sand. Clay is like a big ole stop sign for me. Its hard-packed and dense material acts as a barrier forcing me to change my route.

map showing wellhead protection areas for municipal wells in Waterloo Region.
Wellhead Protection Area map for Waterloo Region. Area in red is closest to the supply well.

Why Wellhead Protection Area maps are important

One reason Wellhead Protection Areas are important is they help bring attention to me. When you look around it’s easy to see the lakes and streams. But I hide underground so I don’t always get the attention I deserve. You know the saying – out of sight – out of mind.

The maps help make groundwater real and hopefully more valued. They provide important information on my whereabouts and the journey I take to each municipal supply well.

And finally, the Wellhead Protection Area maps are an important groundwater protection tool supporting actions using the Source Water Protection Plan to reduce risks from pollution to groundwater.

And as the official drinking water for Waterloo Region, I’d like to think I’m worth protecting.

Cheers, Groundwater

Wellhead Protection Area maps show how groundwater moves to each of the @RegionWaterloo 120 supply wells. An important Source Protection tool for reducing risks of pollutants to groundwater. #iamgroundwaterblog

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Is salt really that bad for water?

GroundwaterLeave a comment

More and more, salt is becoming a normal part of the winter landscape. As one of the many tools used to clear snow and ice, salt is spread over most surfaces where you walk, bike, drive and park your vehicle. That’s a lot of area covered in salt!

over-salted stairs
Figure 1 – Salt is not just for the roads. Over salting on stairs.

You might not think of salt as a pollutant. However, TVO’s article Oversalted: Why Ontario needs a new approach to snow removal states “Environment Canada completed a five-year study in 2001 that concluded road salt should be added to its list of toxic substances, although the department did not actually ban the use of road salt.”

Keeping everyone safe and protecting the environment can be a tough balancing act. But using too much salt or when not needed isn’t good for plants, pets’ paws, cars, and buildings. If you have read my blog “The hidden costs of winter salt and ice melter you might not know about” you’ll know what I mean.

But what about fresh water in lakes and streams and me – groundwater? Is salt really that bad for water? Doesn’t salt just go away after it melts the ice and if not, can’t technology be used to simply remove the salt from water?

Stream in Waterloo Park in winter.
Figure 2 – Salt is damaging to fresh water including groundwater.

Did you know?

  1. Salt is a long-term pollutant that stays with water. Once salt is spread on the ground it stays in the environment. You might not see the salt anymore after the snow melts or when the salt is washed away with the rain but it’s still there. The salt can soak into the ground to mix with me and will build up over time or enter a local waterway through a storm drain.
  2. Water and wastewater treatment does not remove salt from water. Removing salt requires desalination which is extremely expensive and energy intensive, and greatly increases greenhouse gases. Including desalination as part of the treatment process would also result in much higher water costs for the community.
  3. When talking about water pollution, it’s the chloride in the salt and ice melter products that’s the problem. This includes environmentally-friendly products. Basically, if it melts the ice it most likely contains chloride and is damaging to water.

Salt impacts the taste of drinking water

For drinking water, it’s all about the taste. The Ontario Drinking Water Objectives for chloride is 250mg/L. This is when a salty taste may be detectable by some people.

Video: snow and ice clearing tips

The maps below compare the chloride levels from 1998 and 2018 at the Region of Waterloo drinking water supply wells. The orange and red dots are groundwater wells with chloride levels near or exceeding the 250 mg/L limit. Currently, the Region of Waterloo must mix groundwater from different wells to lower the chloride levels.

water quality map comparing chloride levels in Region of Waterloo municipal wells between 1998 and 2018.
Figure 3: Water quality map comparing chloride levels in Region of Waterloo municipal wells between 1998 and 2018.

Salt is harmful to aquatic life

The Canadian Water Quality Guideline states for the protection of aquatic life that the long term exposure of chloride levels for freshwater should be below 120 mg/L.

Did you know a dragonfly eats hundreds of mosquitoes every day? Unfortunately, a salty pond can impact their numbers. A CBC article Salty dragonflies mean more mosquitoes, researchers reported in a study on how increased salt levels in a pond had little affect on mosquito larvae but were impacting dragonfly larvae.

Non-native or invasive species can also begin taking over areas meant for native wildlife. The price of salt: How road salts are affecting our Great Lakes written by Lake Ontario WaterKeeper shares how “Spots in Ontario have become so salty that there have been sightings of saltwater animals in the freshwater creeks. Reports of saltwater blue crabs living in Mimico Creek is just one troubling case that illustrates the extent of sodium chloride pollution in watersheds of Lake Ontario.”

Increasing salt levels in surface water is not limited to the GTA. The Grand River Conservation Authority measures water conductivity in the watershed. Although conductivity data does not measure chloride levels, it is an indicator that chloride is likely present.

Protecting water from salt pollution is a complex issue. It might not be realistic to stop salting completely; however, there are actions everyone can take to use less.

Salt is a normal part of the winter landscape. Salt is spread over most surfaces where you walk, bike, drive and park your vehicle. So is it really that bad for water? Read the I Am Groundwater blog to find out. #iamgroundwaterblog

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The hidden costs of winter salt and ice melter you might not know about

Groundwater3 Comments

With winter here, salt is top of mind for me. Let’s talk about the cost of using salt (and ice melter and de-icing products).

images of a building, child drinking water, winter boots, dog, frog and leaf. All can be damaged by salt.
Hidden costs of salt

The obvious one is the cost of purchasing it. For that reason alone, it makes sense to spread only what you need and only when you need it. And did you know you can sweep up leftover salt to save for another time?

Not that money is a big deal for me, but if we’re talking money, it’s hard to put an exact dollar amount on the environmental cost of using salt.

According to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s 2018 report (Volume 2 – Clean Water – Chapter 2 : page 87) the hidden cost of salt on infrastructure and the environment range from $200 to $470 per ton of salt applied.

A National Post article “The awesome price we pay” outlines some of the costs of using salt. The author writes “Dalhousie University estimated that it costs it an extra $15,000 in cleaning and maintenance each year just to repair all the damage salt does to floors and baseboards”.

What are the hidden costs of salt?

  • Your drinking water. Since this is my blog I’ll start with me. The salt and other de-icing products spread on the ground can eventually mix with me. Over time this will make me – groundwater – taste salty.
  • Sore paws. Have you ever watched a dog trying to walk through salt? Salt trapped in their paws can irritate and crack their skin.
  • Damage to buildings and concrete surfaces. Salt is toxic and will eat away at outside structures (brick/concrete/sidewalks), doorways and flooring may become damaged, increasing repair costs.
  • Health of soil, plants and landscaping. If sprayed with salt, vegetation can lose its hardiness to the cold and be killed by freezing temperatures and high salt levels.
  • Footwear and clothing. Salt stains and can ruin footwear and clothing.
  • Vehicles, bicycles and wheelchairs. Salt accelerates rusting, causing damage and increasing repair costs.
  • Health of waterways for aquatic life. Salt changes water density, which can negatively affect the seasonal mixing of lake waters. This mixing is important to increase oxygen levels required by aquatic life for survival.

That’s my list. Do you have an experience to share about the cost of salt? Also, check out the Region of Waterloo’s website for tips on clearing snow and ice.

Cheers, Groundwater

Salt and ice melter are important tools for keeping you safe from ice. But what are costs? The hidden costs of winter salt and ice melter you might not know about. #iamgroundwaterblog

6 mistruths about winter salt

Groundwater3 Comments

Groundwater here. Let’s talk salt. I’m not talking beaches or seasoning but the stuff spread on the roads, parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, stairs – pretty much anywhere outside you walk, bike or drive in the winter.

Don’t get me wrong, salt has its benefits. It’s easy to find, relatively cheap and for the most part does a good job of melting ice so it’s safer for you to get around.

But if you are me – groundwater – salt isn’t so great. Unfortunately, what is put on the ground can end up where I am and overtime that same salt and ice melter will make me – your drinking water – taste salty.

map showing chlorine levels in wells in 2018
2018 Chloride levels at Region of Waterloo municipal well sites

Here are my top six mistruths about salt that I think contribute to it being a water quality concern for me and my cousins in lakes and streams.

  1. Salt doesn’t harm the environment. FACT: Salt is a toxic substance and is a pollutant to water quality. Salt is a chemical but because it is found naturally and it’s used in your food, salt isn’t treated as such. Like many things it is about moderation and only using the right amount when needed.
  2. You can use an environmentally-friendly ice melter. FACT: Most ice melter and de-icing products including ones labelled “100 per cent natural”, and “pet, plant and environmentally friendly” use salt as their main ingredient. Even when you think you are using something environmentally friendly, it probably isn’t water friendly. Take a close look at the product labelling. If it melts ice it most likely lists chloride (Cl) as one of its ingredients and is damaging to water.
  3. Salt works in all temperatures. FACT: Salt (sodium chloride) works best between 0 and -10 Celsius. When it’s colder, it is best to switch to sand for traction or use an ice melter that works at colder temperatures. That ice melter is still damaging to water so make sure to follow product instructions and only use on icy areas only after you have cleared the snow.
  4. Salt goes away. FACT: Salt doesn’t leave the environment. It’s actually the chloride in salt that’s the problem. Chloride is highly soluble, meaning it gets inside me and won’t get out. Have you ever had a house guest who overstays their welcome? For me, that’s chloride.
  5. Water and wastewater treatment removes salt. FACT: Current water and wastewater treatment does not remove chloride in salt and ice melter products from water. Removing salt requires desalination which is extremely expensive and energy intensive, and greatly increases greenhouse gases.
  6. Salt is regulated and you must take training to use it. FACT: Anyone can spread salt. If the person spreading the salt hasn’t been educated on proper techniques and how harmful salt is to water, they often spread way too much or assume salt is the best tool when conditions say otherwise.

So there you have it. My six mistruths about salt. I’m sure there are others so I’d love to hear from you.

Salt is an important tool for clearing snow and ice but where groundwater is looking it’s not showing the same amount of love. Groundwater’s 6 mistruths about salt. #iamgroundwaterblog

9 actions you can take as a water protector

Groundwater1 Comment

Imagine a day without me – groundwater. Not a day goes by you don’t use me. You drink me, clean and wash with me, and so much more.

Keeping me clean and making sure there is always enough of me to go around is an important job. One that everyone can help with.

Want to be a water protector? Here are my top nine ways to get started.

  1. Take shorter showers. Cutting back on your shower by even a few minutes can mean less water down the drain and more money you can save on your next water utility bill.
  2. Check your toilet for leaks. Paying for water you aren’t using isn’t fun. Did you know a leaky toilet can silently lose 300 litres or more a day? That’s like filling up three bath tubs! An easy way to detect a leak is to place a few drops of food colouring in the tank, wait 20 to 30 minutes and then check the water in the bowl. If the water has changed colour you have a leak. For where else to check for leaks visit the Region of Waterloo water conservation web page.
  3. Limit the use of salt and ice melter. Chloride in salt and ice melter soaks into the ground and mixes with groundwater once it has melted the ice. Over time this will make drinking water taste salty. The Region of Waterloo has snow and ice clearing tips that can help keep salt out of water.
  4. Support water education. The Waterloo Wellington Children’s Groundwater Festival provides fun, hands-on activities to 5,000 grade 2 to 5 students each May. You can help the Festival continue educating future water protectors by making a financial donation and/or volunteering during the event.
  5. Use a rain barrel. Save on your water utility bill by watering your plants with rain courtesy of Mother Nature. Using native plants in your garden can also help reduce how much you need to water and create a pollinator-friendly space.
  6. Set your water softener to the correct water hardness. Save on salt costs and help reduce the amount of salt going into the Grand River. Water hardness differs throughout Waterloo Region. Use the Water Softener Facts website water hardness maps to find the water hardness for your area.
  7. Return unused medication to your local pharmacy. Help keep medication out of waterways. Never flush it down the toilet or pour down the sink.
  8. Only rain down the storm drain. Storm drains connect directly with the local waterway. It is important only rain and melted snow enter the storm drains to keep streams and creeks clean.
  9. Report a spill immediately if you witness or suspect a spill has occurred or is about to occur. A spill is the release of a substance that is harmful to the environment, such as oil, fuel, chemicals or pesticides into a sewer or the environment. Quick actions can reduce the clean-up time and protect the local environment.

I’d love to hear from you. Why is protecting water important to you? Do you have tips to help others be water protectors?

Groundwater is your drinking water. I hope you agree it’s worth protecting. Groundwater shares 9 ways you can help. #iamgroundwaterblog