Winter: Let It Snow — Again
The reality of living in Ontario, Canada, is that we experience winter in varying degrees of severity from November until roughly March.
Whether you love the winter or not, one problem you will probably have is dealing with ice and snow on your driveway and paths. (If you live in a condo, townhouse or apartment, you can stop reading right here and indulge in some self-righteous smirking. ;-)).
In what we refer to as the GTA (General Toronto Area), which includes Toronto, Scarboro, Mississauga, and Oakville, we get varying amounts of snow, but usually nothing compared to outlying areas such as Oshawa, Ajax to the East, Newmarket, North Bay and Sudbury to the North and Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and London to the West.
In a really bad year we might get 1 to 2 feet of snow in a single snowfall, and we might even get two such snowfalls in a week. (One exceptional year, some may recall, we got a monster snowfall which completely paralysed the City of Toronto and caused the then Mayor to call in the Army to help straighten things out, something Torontonians are still trying to live down. ) Mostly, however we get 5 to 10 Cms and maybe 2–3 times in one week, then periods of weeks when nothing more than wind and cold occurs. (I’m generalising here, based on the past 10 years ;-)).
So, once we are confronted with a pile of the white stuff, we need to shovel or blow it away, but then we are usually left with a thin coating of snow and ice which needs to be dealt with so as to prevent people from slipping and falling (and subsequently, possibly suing the homeowner!).
Melting the snow and ice
Over the years, I have gone from being a big user of the most common de-icer — Salt (Sodium Chloride) to being a user of something called Calcium Chloride. At first, the “scary” chemical name put me off. However, the nice guys at our local contractor supply store, Chauncey Builders Supply, (Etobicoke) explained the benefits of this scary sounding product.
They said that it melts at a much lower temperature than salt (Rock Salt: -15ºC (-25ºC)) vs CC -25F -31 C) it does not leave a white residue on the driveway or concrete walks; it does not cause surface damage to concrete and treated concrete areas; it is much less harmful to bordering lawns and flowerbeds; it is much less hurtful to pet’s paws and pads, much less toxic if ingested by pets (unlike products containing anti freeze (Ethylene glycol which can be fatal); it’s soil penetration is much less pronounced than salt, and finally, CC disappears completely once it’s melting operation is over.
So, after this big build-up, I got a couple of bags and tried it out. I would have to wait until the spring to see if the lawn was unscathed, but it’s de-icing efficiency was undisputed. It worked a lot better and faster than salt and did not irritate and burn our dog’s feet. I loved how, after shoveling, an application of CC would quickly melt any residue and leave a clean, black driveway (which left the neighbours envious).
The entire melt process, shown in the pictures below, took roughly 10 minutes.
In the spring I found no evidence of browning or typical salt damage to the edges of the lawn, and none of the perennials or evergreen shrubs along the border of the driveway had suffered any damage at all. The concrete pathways did not appear to have suffered any deterioration.
Elated at having solved a very irritating problem, I stocked up on CC and have been using it successfully on our property and on client properties for the past 6 years.
Calcium Chloride Difficult to Find
Over the past 6 years, finding a reliable supplier of CC has been tricky. Retail outlets that sold it in the past, stopped, and after finding a really great local supplier, I was disappointed to learn they are no longer in the snow melt business. Fast forward to fall of 2016. I searched extensively on the internet and as before, found a few manufacturers, but no distributors.
Finally I found that Home Depot carries the product (sold only on the internet, but free delivery).
In large bags (the most economical way to buy), there are two choices, both under the SnowJoe label:
1) 50 lb bag Melt — CC crystals #1000854995 at $29.74;
2) 50 lb bag Melt Model MELT50ccp (professional strength pellets — 94 percent CC)$36.67. (I have contacted the SnowJoe company to complain about the salt issue, but so far, have not received a reply.)
On the Home Depot website — people commenting on, and reviewing the CC crystals, complained that it contains salt. That partially explains why the crystals are less expensive — a lower CC content) That is not clear on the front of the package, which happens to be the only part shown on the website. There is no mention of the salt, and thus the percentage.
Adding salt to CC is ridiculous and pointless, unless the point is to be able to cut down on the more expensive CC and bulk it with Sodium Chloride (salt).
What Is Calcium Chloride?
This is a traditional ice melt product. It is also used on dirt roads in farm country to help keep the dust down.
It will melt ice to temperatures of -25˚F -31c. It gives off heat as it dissolves which melts the ice quicker. It gradually breaks down into a viscous liquid which continues to melt snow and ice until it has completely dissipated.
Calcium Chloride is economical, effective and environmentally friendly. You need to use less of it on your surfaces than other products, which means less of it getting to the environment and less money spent by the user on getting good results.
What about the other Ice Melting chemicals?
There certainly are others out there, but not as available to the consumer in their pure state, usually mixed in to various de-icing and melt products, and often used by commercial outfits and cities in their snow clearing operations.
Magnesium Chloride — is used for low-temperature de-icing of highways, sidewalks, and parking lots. When highways are treacherous due to icy conditions, Magnesium Chloride helps to prevent the ice bond, allowing snow plows to clear the roads more efficiently. Will melt ice to temperatures of -25˚F -31C, This product is sometimes available to the retail customer in stores such as Rona or Home Depot.
Potassium chloride — Is more expensive than other products. Works well when mixed 50/50 with rock salt. Will melt ice to temperatures of -12˚F -24C. Relatively safe but can still cause plant injury if over-applied.
Urea — Commonly used as a fertilizer but is also an effective ice melter. Will melt ice to temperatures of -15˚F -26. Over application can harm vegetation. Urea is often one of the products found in off the shelf snow and ice melt products.
Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) — Is made from dolomitic limestone and acetic acid (main compound in vinegar). It has little affect on plants and concrete but it’s performance decreases at temperatures below -20˚F -28C. It works differently than other materials in that it does not form a brine like the salts. CMA helps prevent snow particles from sticking to each other on the road surface. It prevents re-freezing more than it melts ice and tends to leave a slush.
It is generally believed that repeated use of any ice/snow melt product may eventually contribute to some degradation of the concrete and other surfaces to which it is applied, some products are gentler than others, and the less you need to apply the better.
Keeping it Natural
What about the “natural” snow melt products, such as Sugar Beet juice? This is a fairly recent addition to the snow melt product group, and is used in conjunction with salt brine by some commercial operations and cities (Ontario’s Niagara region has been experimenting with it for the past three years) more recently City of Toronto began adding beet juice to it’s salt brine, and in Huron County they have been mixing beet juice and brine to pre-spray the roads to deal with sudden snow squalls. The combination of the Sugar Beet juice with the salt causes the salt to be more sticky and melts ice at a lower temperature than pure salt or brine. Sugar Beet juice has a low environmental impact since the Sugar Beets are being processed for various different things anyway (white sugar, molasses). The leftover pulp is used for farm animal feed along with the foliage, and all that is left is the juice. So they are reclaiming the juice which is usually thrown out at the end of the processing. An excellent example of recycling.
Sounds like a progressive product, however Beet juice does not work on it’s own, it is usually mixed in with a salt brine solution, can leave stains on sidewalk and walkway surfaces, and some instances on cars, and mainly, at the moment it is not readily available to the consumer.
One commercial enterprise I know explained that they had been using Beet Juice to de-ice on all outside surfaces until they found that it left semi permanent brownish stains on the concrete portions of their outdoor space. They are still using it on the driveways, but have reverted to salt for the concrete. (I tried to talk them into trying CC, but to no avail.)
Some people advocate using Kitty Litter. This will not melt the snow and ice but will provide some traction. A few folks advocate using nothing to de-ice, which given our climate, may be looking at winter through rosy tinted glasses!
Footnote
Thanks to Neil and Li Wright, formerly of CMW Northern Resources, for all the technical details about the various snow melt products.
