The Owl Canyon Corridor in Northern Larimer County is an eleven-mile section of Larimer County Road 70 and 72 that serves as an important connection between US Highway 287 and Interstate 25. The westernmost three miles of the corridor is non-paved consisting of a treated gravel surface.
FcaWhen snow and ice melts, the salt goes with it, washing into our lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. When winter comes and snow and ice build-up on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks, one of the most common reactions is to apply salt, which contains chloride.
A study termed the “Freshwater Salinization Syndrome,” have occurred most prominently in densely populated watersheds in the eastern and mid-western U.S. where salinity and alkalinity have increased most rapidly. Cities, counties and states are doing different things to reduce and limit the Chloride (Cl-) in their water..
For winter maintenance agencies and contractors, snow and ice control is a vital function of their work providing safe conditions for the public. Using an innovative product that reduce costs, improves safety, and mitigates environmental impacts is increasingly important.
Anti-icing using liquid brines is a proactive method of snow and ice control. It’s a proven method to reduce chlorides and lower costs with nearly every state DOT in the US using Liquid Anti-icers. The brines are approximately 20-32% salt (depending on type of salt brine used) and is applied to pavements before a storm to prevent snow and/or ice from bonding. Both liquid and granular deicing/anti-icing products have benefits that, when applied correctly, will maximize your road service levels to keep people safe while minimizing costs to you and the environment. The success of your anti-icing/deicing program depends on your knowledge and application of the right products at the right times depending on conditions. “Dry deicers with wet snow and liquid deicers with dry snow”.
No standard exists for determining when snow and ice accumulation is severe enough that it will endanger patrons or employees. In most cases, managers and supervisors must use their own judgment to alter work practices based on changes in weather conditions. Just plowing or shoveling snow cannot prevent slippery conditions for pedestrians, 90% of walkway injuries happen with less than 1 inch of snow. Just a thin layer of snow is all it takes to make the difference between a sidewalk with traction and a slippery mess. If sidewalks are not cleared properly, liability falls on the property owner. Facility managers need to understand anti-icing and de-icing technologies and the relative best practices to employ. To protect yourself from slip-and-fall lawsuits, you can:
The fundamental snow and ice control strategies in winter maintenance include: Anti-icing, Deicing, Pre-wetting, and Pretreating.
EnviroTech is proud to announce that our new salt brine enhancing product AMP, has received approval from the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters Association (PNS). PNS members are a collection of transportation agencies throughout the states of Washtington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, as well as British Columbia. The guidelines established by PNS assist users in product selection by requiring that corrosion inhibited approved products:
The topic of how to treat areas with unique or highly sensitive ecological needs has been long standing within dust control markets. The days of using things like waste oil to treat roads are long gone, and the vast majority of vetted products present very little risk to the environments they enter. Still, there are outlying areas that cannot tolerate chlorides at any significant level. Places like the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, which have precious and biologically diverse wetlands to preserve.
And although places like Squaw Creek have a growing number of chloride free products to choose from – the issue is not so easily settled. Why? Because many of these products simply do not perform. Just like calorie free sweeteners or soy based veggie burgers, it can be hard to remove an element or ingredient and still get the punch we want. It is the classic consumer tradeoff that good product developers constantly look to close. durablend-C™ is EnviroTech’s latest step forward in this quest.
For Squaw Creek, however, maintaining its ecology was about more than finding a decent sugar free coffee sweetener. As such, they entered into a rigorous screening process to identify products worthy of including in an on-site study. In short, durablend-C™ passed the test. And not just because it did not have an adverse interaction with the wetlands. It passed because it worked. A single application of durablend-C™ that incorporated ESI’s proprietary Compact & Cap™ program performed as well or better than two applications of the alternative product tested over the same timeline without compromising the ecosystem.
Application of durablend-C™
“Custom Solutions”. “Cutting Edge Technology”. “Consultative Sales Approach”. Ah, the buzzwords of sales and marketing. They adorn conversations with sales people the way neon lights bring ambiance to a pool hall. But what do they mean and do they deliver more than just a shiny light to stare at while having a cold brew?
Similar to how EnviroTech has worked diligently to bring sound science to our dust control and deicing industries (as well as others), we are taking concrete steps to turn the buzzwords of sales and marketing into tangible results. The latest version of this takes the form of a piece of equipment known as a Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test (HWT), which gives ESI a wholly unique testing capability for our dust control and road maintenance customers.
The HWT was developed in Germany and gives ESI the ability to run side by side tests that compare the nuanced balance between product selection, application rate, native soil, expected traffic patterns, and anticipated weather. So, instead of running field tests (which are more expensive and time consuming) to get the optimal mixture of product type and application, ESI can work with you to get the right combination before any field applications occur. Here’s how it worked in a recent test:
Spider mites are a real threat to orchards, vineyards and many other crop fields. An integrated approach to managing mite populations is crucial, and proper dust control is a critical component. However, conventional dust control products, such as those used on industrial sites, are not conducive to plant health. Lignosulfonate, a byproduct of wood-pulp processing, is a popular choice for agricultural dust control, but has limitations, not the least of which are product consistency and erratic availability. EnviroTech Services, Inc. manufactures a dust control product that provides superior, consistent and enduring dust control without exposing fields to the undesirable components of conventional dust control products.
The least expensive dust control solutions, magnesium or calcium chloride treatments, are undesirable in agriculture and other alternative dust control products can poison the living soil necessary for healthy plant life. When evaluating the best options, the field of available products narrows rapidly.
The concept of product development is pretty simple. How do we either improve on an existing product or create something superior that is a replacement product? Less simple, however, is the process of testing, documenting, and verifying the improvements sought. This can be particularly tricky for consumers who can find themselves comparing performance claims between products they may not fully understand. Add to that the consideration for managing costs associated with switching to a new product as well as ensuring apple to apple cost comparisons, and the introduction of new products can feel more burdensome than exciting.
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