As the variety of de-icing and anti-icing materials has grown in recent years, facility managers are tasked with balancing the plusses and minuses of the solutions available. Which are most effective – and most cost effective? What are the environmental impacts of the material used? How quickly and conveniently can the material be applied?

For most facility managers, a key consideration is how the de-icing and anti0icing materials impact the carpeting and flooring in their buildings. More than just an issue of appearance, when some materials are tracked into a building, they can cause permanent damage, increase maintenance costs – and pose a health risk to the building’s occupants and visitors.

Some of the most commonly used de-icing materials can cause permanent damage, leaving behind white residue that can dull the finish of wood floors and cause them to splinter. Carpeting can develop dry rot, fading the color.

When calcium and magnesium chloride-based products are tracked into a building, they coat floors with an oily residue that damages wax and urethane finishes. It also makes hard surface floors slippery, putting employees and visitors at risk for slip and fall injuries. These materials also degrade carpets by wearing out carpet fibers and attracting dirt.

To protect against floor and carpet damage, frequent upkeep is required during snow and ice events, which costs time and money.

An alternative to granular de-icing materials is formic technology-based liquid de-icers. Their neutral pH formulations eliminate tracking, reducing near-term labor costs associated with manual cleaning, estimated at $50 per entrance per day, according to the ISSA. In the long-term, this reduces the need for full strip and re-coats, which represents a significant financial investment.

It is understandable that the de-icing and anti-icing materials that are meant for outdoor use can be damaging to carpeting and floors when tracked indoors, but the salt residue left over from many products can also cause permanent damage to pavers, asphalt, concrete, masonry, decorative stone or other custom walkways and metal light fixtures and railings.

Calcium, sodium and magnesium granular chloride products are all hydroscopic, meaning they draw moisture from the atmosphere. If they seep into groundwater supplies or wash into lakes or streams, they reduce the available oxygen levels, harming aquatic wildlife. Salt-based ice melters may also erode soil, kill plants and burn grasses.

Formic technology de-icers are 100 percent chloride free and are readily biodegradable. They are safe for water, plants, concrete, asphalt, stone and metals.

Pedestrian Safety

While potential damage inside and outside is critical, we haven’t forgotten about the people – creating a safe environment for pedestrians. An important aspect of creating a safe environment is the time required to ensure safety. Granular de-icers take three to five minutes, often more, to achieve an acceptable melt.

By contrast, liquid de-icers based on formic technology quickly and reliably remove thin layers of ice and prevent new snow and ice from accumulating. In fact, some formic technology de-icers have a speed of melt of about 30 to 50 seconds by reducing the freezing point to temperatures as low as minus 60° F.

Cost-Effectiveness

Determining the cost-effectiveness of a de-icing material requires consideration of a number of factors: speed of melt (discussed above), amount of material required to create a safe surface and the physical application process itself.

Ease and speed of application combined with reduced transport and loading costs make using liquids extremely attractive from a labor perspective. Using granular products can be very labor intensive, slowing the application process and negatively impacting safety in high-traffic pedestrian areas. For example, on stairs, applicators have to carry heavy bags, spreading material by hand, and in larger areas and walkways, push spreaders are often utilized. Liquid applications are far more efficient. Liquid tanks fill quickly, and today’s spray applicator technologies are convenient and easy to use, providing for very precise application rates.

The low quantity of liquids required to produce an adequate melt combined with speed of application make most liquid de-iciers more cost-effective. Most users will achieve a lower application cost per 1,000 sq. ft. with liquids. And, because the liquid achieves a melt three times more quickly than granular products, it creates a longer-lasting and safer walking surface.

So, when deciding what kind of de-icing material to use this winter, check three boxes: a safe surface outside, and reduced damage, both inside and out.

Nate Clemmer’s family wanted to go somewhere warm for Thanksgiving last year.

But Lake Placid was about to get hit with their first winter weather event of the season, and Clemmer needed to be there.

“While my kids were in the hotel room watching television, I was out in the parking lot testing different products,” said Clemmer, CEO of SynaTek Solutions, a Philadelphia-area company that develops organic de-icing alternatives to road salt.

Scientific evidence is mounting on the impacts of road salt on Adirondack lakes and watersheds.

New York State is the largest user of road salt in North America. Six million tons of salt have been deposited on Adirondack roads over the past 35 years, according to the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI).

Local soils are thin and porous, which means most of this salt ends up in ground and surface water.

Levels in Lake George have increased threefold in the past four decades.

In Lake Placid, the Ausable River Association determined there are “significant long-term trends” of increasing sodium and chloride buildup in Mirror Lake, with concentrations up to 11 times higher than in the early 1970s.

This decline in water quality can have a deleterious effect on the environment, economy, municipal budgets — even property values.

Environmental groups are likening the salt buildup to the modern-day equivalent of acid rain, surpassing more well-known threats like stormwater pollution and invasive species.

“But the difference is you can solve it locally,” said Eric Siy, executive director of the FUND for Lake George.

‘Nothing Else Like It’

Siy was among the dozens of stakeholders gathered at the 3rd annual Salt Summit in Ticonderoga last week to discuss the latest science and best practices for reducing the use of road salt.

Among the keystones was an update on an innovative new pilot program designed to study salt application in the Lake George region.

For the past two years, the FUND for Lake George, who co-sponsored the conference, has been working with municipalities in the southern Adirondacks and an Ontario-based company called Viaesys to gather data.

A fleet of 20 plow trucks in eight municipalities has been outfitted with monitoring devices that measures applications and tracks exactly when and how much of the substance is being deployed — including during heavy weather events — and crunches the numbers.

“We do see there are a lot of potential areas of improvement — especially with training,” said Viaesys CEO Raqib Omer. “We do see some cases where a little bit of training can go a long way with the operators.”

To gauge the impact on public safety, cameras have been mounted at key locations in Lake George.

“We’re actually getting comparable or better results in terms of pavement conditions on those roadways with less salt,” said Siy.

Stakeholders aim to then take that data and develop best practices.

“There is nothing like it being done anywhere on the planet where we are connecting the dots of research and practical application of techniques to reduce the use of road salt,” Siy said.

‘Dramatic Impact’

While the long-term effect of salination requires further study, the impacts may have a cascading effect on the ecosystem, impacting species at the base of the food chain like phytoplankton and zooplankton, which serve as feed for fish and amphibians.

“If you see salt levels becoming too high and you’re dealing with native species in the lake that are salt-intolerant, it can upset the balance of the food web and have a dramatic effect on what everybody comes to expect when they come to Lake George,” Siy said.

Salt also can leach into groundwater supplies, like in Beekmantown in Clinton County, where the town is working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation on a remediation plan for contaminated wells.

While the taste can be inconvenient, there’s also more serious health concerns, including leaching from heavy metals and the impact on those with dietary restrictions.

AdkAction, an advocacy group that co-sponsored the conference, is about midway through testing 400 wells throughout the Adirondack Park.

“We hope it will give us a better understanding of the severity of the groundwater situation,” said Brittany Christenson, the group’s executive director.

AdkAction is also researching the impacts of salt on state and private vehicles, as well as on roadway infrastructure.

Dialogue Important

The AWI report revealed 84,700 tons of salt is applied to local roads, a number that rises to 108,000 for their state counterparts.

The report directly tied increased chloride levels to the latter owing to a higher road density.

“We’re trying to get the state of New York right now to eliminate the amount of salt it puts on Main Street in Lake Placid,” said North Elba Supervisor Roby Politi. “We all contribute, but the state contributes more. Salt is at a minimum in the Town of North Elba, but the state of New York is 100 percent.”

The state Department of Transportation dispatched a panel of staffers to the conference, a prospect that heartened stakeholders.

“That part of the dialogue is very important,” said Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky.

Bryan Viggiani, a DOT spokesman, said the agency has long worked with local officials and advocacy groups within the Lake George watershed and statewide on road maintenance practices that protect both the environment and public safety.

“What we heard at the summit was that all users of road salt — both public and private — are contributing to increased salinity in water bodies within the watershed,” Viggiani said via email.

The state employs a number of best management practices to reduce salt use while still protecting motorists, said Viggiani, including reducing application rates, using automated material spreaders to control salt use, calibrating equipment routinely, using GPS in equipment and applying salt brine and alternative materials when appropriate.

“It is incumbent upon every snow and ice practitioner to utilize best management practices to minimize salt use,” Viggiani said. “The New York State Department of Transportation continually refines its winter maintenance practices to provide for safe travel with minimal environmental impacts.”

Navitsky said the coalition imagines a scenario in which all stakeholders benefit.

“Better equipment, better approaches and better practices will make it more efficient for the towns and save them money while maintaining safe roads and protecting our environment in the long run,” he said.

Ticonderoga Supervisor Joe Giordano called the research “eye opening.”

“When (highway superintendents) see the bottom line — which everyone is looking at when it comes to savings — that will be a bigger take-home message as well,” Giordano said.

Reducing salinity also requires support from the general public.

“Unless you do this in a way that has road safety as the paramount concern, you are not going to get broad buy-ins in reducing the use,” Siy said.

AdkAction hopes their “hold the salt” campaign — which includes car magnets — will boost awareness.

Others say the public will pay more attention if the issue is brought directly to their doorsteps — literally.

Branch Creek, a subsidiary of SynTek Solutions, has developed a biodegradable de-icing agent called Entry.

The product, Clemmer said, is designed for small-scale applications — namely a 15-foot radius outside of homes, businesses, hospitals and public sidewalks.

While Entry was designed to be environmentally-friendly, customer feedback reveals the chief selling point is that it cannot be tracked indoors — not necessarily because of the environmental ramifications.

But Clemmer said it’s important to keep hammering on the green elements in order to facilitate a broader public conversation.

“If we’re going to be successful in reducing salt in Lake George and the Adirondack region as a whole, we need to get people that live in this community to understand that,” he said.