10/08/2012 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Before the Storm PRETREATING AND PREWETTING SALT AND SAND Dry material bounces or blows off the road, so everyone should be either pretreating or prewetting dry material. Liquids also increase salt's effectiveness by jump - starting the melting pro- cess. Depending on the liquid used, it can lower salt's effective working temperature. Because pretreating and prewetting cause material to stick to the road, 20 to 30 percent less material is used — saving money and reducing environmental impacts. Guidelines for pretreating Pretreating is mixing a liquid into the stockpile of salt or sand before it is applied. Unlike prewetting, it does not require equipment changes and requires no new capital investment for equipment. You can also switch from dry application to wet application immediately —just turn down the application rate. Salt stockpile • Treat the salt stockpile with a liquid deicing chemical. It may be purchased pretreated or mixed on site by the ven- dor. • When treating the stockpile at the shop, apply at 6 to 10 gallons /ton. • Because leach risk at a stockpile is increased, store it cov- ered on an impervious pad. Sand stockpile • Pretreat the stockpile to keep it flowable. • Apply to stockpile at 4 to 6 gallons of salt brine /ton sand. • Store the stockpile under cover. 7 • If you must use dry material, follow best practices to reduce bounce and scatter. Q Chemicals leaching from a stockpile into groundwater is a common problem.