Salt Brine

WHAT IS SALT BRINE?
Salt brine is a clear water and sodium chloride solution used for snow and ice control. It is composed of tap water and rock salt mixed to typical concentrations of 23% to 26% salt.

WHY IS SALT BRINE USED?
Salt brine can be used effectively either as an anti-icing or de-icing product to keep winter roads free of ice and snow. Remember, almost all snow and ice fighting products, including salt and salt brine, are used for their snow/ice pavement-breaking capability, not because they have the ability to melt all of the ice on the pavement.

• LESS EXPENSE: Salt brine uses less of the expensive white stuff (salt).
• The amount of salt required to break ¼ inch of ice from one lane mile of road with a freezing point of 20°F is approximately 8,234 pounds.
• It requires approximately 60 gallons of salt brine to break the similar one lane mile of road of ice bound to the pavement. At a 23% concentration mixture, this product would offer multiple savings over the use of salt alone.
• MORE SALT BRINE STAYS WHERE YOU NEED IT (ON THE PAVEMENT – NOT IN THE DITCHES)
• The bounce and scatter effect suffered when spreading rock salt on the pavement is eliminated. Bounce and scatter loss varies with conditions and speed of application, but can amount to a loss of up to 30% of the total volume of salt.
• PRE-TREAT WITH SALT BRINE: SALT BRINE CAN BE USED EITHER AS A DE-ICING PRODUCT OR AS AN ANTI-ICING ICE TREATMENT PRODUCT. SALT IS MOST EFFECTIVE ONLY AS A REACTIVE (DE-ICING) PRODUCT.
• The Salt Institute has stated that applying brine to the pavement before snow or ice has bonded can be 10 times more effective than placing salt crystals on top of snow and ice after it has bonded to the pavement.
• Pre-treating is the act of applying salt brine directly to the pavement surface anytime pavement temperatures are predicted to drop below freezing, even when there is no snow or ice in the weather forecast.
• Benefits of pre-treating with Salt Brine includes:
• Pre-treating pavement with salt brine is normally done one driving lane at a time at normal traffic speeds. Small streams are dribbled on the pavement surface approximately 8” to 12” apart. In clear weather, these liquid streams will leave a strip of fine salt bonded to the pavement and will stay intact for several days under normal traffic conditions. When snow or ice begins, the moisture activates the brine strips preventing the snow or ice from bonding to the pavement.
• Total application of salt brine during pre-treatment is normally at the rate of 50 to 60 gallons of brine per lane mile.
• Pre-treating with salt brine is labor efficient since the process can be performed during normal working hours – not at the overtime hours required when the storm materializes.
• Pre-treating gains the snow fighters time and greatly reduces the cost of breaking the ice and snow bonded to the pavement surfaces.
• Once a snow or ice bond forms, a dangerous situation occurs for the traveling public and an expensive and time consuming task is created to clear that bond from the roads.

WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS OF USING DRY GRANULAR SALT?
Granular salt must be dissolved into brine before any deicing can begin. Making brine of salt can occur prior to application to the surface, or naturally after surface application through the interaction of the salt with moisture.

• If the roadway is dry, granular salt will not bond to the pavement and traffic will quickly crush it and cause the powder to blow away. Therefore, dry salt cannot be effectively used for pre-treatment before a winter storm.
• Ohio D.O.T. tests have proven that efficient placement of dry salt can only occur at very low speeds. Excessive scattering of material begins at speeds as low as 15 mph. Tests have shown that on dry pavement at speeds above 309 mph a truck equipped with a conventional spinner will only place 20% - 40% of the salt in the driven lane. Placement does improve somewhat on wet pavement.
• For dry granular salt to have an effect, it must be placed on snow covered or wet pavement. On snow covered pavement, initial melting must occur from the top down. Salt gradation does affect results. Salt granules that are too fine either blow away via the truck turbulence or they are so small they will completely dissolve and dilute before reaching the pavement, leaving liquid covered snow or a slick spot. The larger salt crystals are the ones that have enough mass to make it through the ice to the pavement where snow/ice pavement bond breaking can begin. The penetration and dissolving process takes time and is slowed by lower temperatures.

THE BETTER ALTERNATIVE – GEOMELT BLENDS®
GEOMELT CUSTOM BLENDED WITH SALT BRINE

• GEOMELT® is an eco-friendly, sugar beet based natural organic accelerator for nearly any anti-icing or de-icing product.
• GEOMELT BLENDS® are derived from renewable resources providing an attractive alternative where environmental concerns are important.
• GEOMELT-S fluid is a natural product - GEOMELT® blended with salt brine – and is a less corrosive fluid featuring ice control performance superior to traditional salt brine.
• BENEFITS OF USING GEOMELT-S BLENDS® OVER REGULAR SALT BRINE:
• GEOMELT® salt-brine blend works at temperatures where salt brine is no longer effective. GEOMELT® Blends has a freezing point of -12° to -30°F., which is 25°F. lower than salt brine alone.
• GEOMELT-S Blend is a natural anti-corrosion agent. Test results from an independent lab approved by the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters have shown GEOMELT® Blends anti-icing/deicing fluid to be three times less corrosive tan salt brine