OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As cooler temperatures move in, snow won’t be far behind.
On Thursday, the city of Oshkosh held an open house to show and tell its snow and ice management equipment.
The goal was to learn about current salting practices, goals and barriers within area communities.
The main priority of winter maintenance is to keep people safe, which is why Oshkosh is already thinking about its plans for the upcoming season.
“We have to be very careful and cautious on how we apply salt and really trying to find ways to keep our roads safe, while minimizing our usage of salt and that’s what the collaboration is with all the communities today,” said James Rabe, Oshkosh’s director of public works.
Rabe says snow and ice removal is the biggest controversial topic of the winter season.
“Everybody does things a little bit differently, everybody’s trying a little different technology and so we’re hosting today bringing some of the communities to see what we do and also give us an opportunity to talk to them and see what they do,” he said.
Workers from public works departments around the area, gathered at Oshkosh’s Garage for the 2023 Salt Wise Winter Equipment Open House.
“Salt is a permanent pollutant so what that means is once it gets into our waterways, we cannot remove it,” said Alyssa Reinke, Northeast Wisconsin Stormwater Consortium Coordinator with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
It only takes one teaspoon of salt to pollute five gallons of water.
“Our aquatic plants, and animals, our recreation use, our drinking water all requires having that clean water,” said Reinke.
Reinke says $1 spent in salt, is $10 in damages over time.
“When we talk about those damages, we’re talking about your vehicles, cement, the environment and some of those are hard to factor in,” she said.
During a typical winter, Oshkosh uses around 3,000 tons of salt. One way the city is minimizing its use of salt, is by using liquid brine before a winter storm hits.
“So if you’re driving down the street and you see those white lines down the road, that’s an application of brine, which is a saltwater solution,” said Rabe.
While brine still contains salt, it’s at a lower concentration.
“When the plow trucks come through, it’s not stuck to the road and they can get it off a lot easier and then they don’t have to apply a bunch of salt as they’re going,” said Rabe.
When it comes to salting your own property, Reinke says to read the instructions.
“A lot of people don’t and I know they think more salt is better, but it’s not,” said Reinke.
A 12 ounce cup is enough to treat 10 sidewalk squares.
“It’s something inevitably that first snow of every year is a learning curve for everyone,” said Rabe.
Wisconsin has a Salt Awareness Week, which takes place in January. It’s a week dedicated to educate people on the issue of salt pollution.
