Spraying liquid deicers on salt dramatically lowers its working temperature.
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Now is the time to explore adding liquids to your snow and ice management programs. Your clients will be delighted with what
liquid deicers can do for their properties. But you'll even be happier with how they can boost your reputation and your company's
bottom line.
The use of liquid deicers is one of the fastest growing trends among snow management contractors. But, keep in mind they're
never meant to melt snow. They're designed to keep snow and ice from bonding to pavement. Think of Pam keeping eggs from sticking
to frying pans.
Liquid deicers do away with hard-packed snow and ice, and make plowing and shoveling faster and cleaner. They create safer
conditions faster, reduce the likelihood of slip-and-fall claims and cut the amount of salt you use.
There are several liquid deicers on the market. They do basically the same thing, but they're different enough that you should
do your homework before making a big investments in product. (Tip: Talk to the mechanic at your local municipal or highway
department that's been using liquids. He'll give you the inside scoop.) Veteran snow contractor Darren Rafferty, CSP, Darren Rafferty Inc., Clark, NJ, has been using a product sold as Magic Minus
Zero — a sugary mixture of agricultural byproduct, magnesium chloride and condensed distiller solubles — for the past three
years. He uses the product in two forms, as a liquid, which his trucks spray onto clients' corporate properties prior to snow
or ice events, and by spraying the liquid onto rock salt (8 gals. per ton of salt) to lower the working temperature of the
rock salt from 18 F. to 35 F.
"Say it's going to snow tonight," explains Rafferty. "We will spray the product (liquid) on the properties of our accounts
anytime prior to the snow event as long as the temperatures are right (See "Follow the rules" sidebar, pg. 50.) When we come
in to do our snow removal, there won't be any hardpack, and we will hit it again with our treated salt. So when we plow or
shovel it off, we won't need to use a lot of salt or deicer later because the pavement will be clean underneath."
Spraying a liquid deicer before a winter event makes plowing a snap.
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Rafferty began investigating liquids after the property manager of a corporate client, still in sticker shock over paying
$60,000 to clean the carpets and floors of his facilities, asked him to investigate alternatives to the rock salt and calcium
chloride he was using.
"The problem was that the calcium leaves a white chalky residue tenants and employees tracked it into the building," Rafferty
says. "We discovered Magic Salt, and it solved the problem."
Since then, Rafferty has incorporated liquid deicers into all of his accounts. "We've reduced our usage of chlorides tremendously,"
he says.
Each of the several liquid deicers available to snow management contractors has its benefits depending upon conditions, says
John Parker, CSP, Taconic Maintenance, Poughkeepsie, NY.
Sugary liquid products made from agricultural by-products generally work better in heavy wet snows, which are common in the
Northeast. Products made of calcium or magnesium chloride work very well in dry, light snows, like those that often occur
in the Rockies and the West, Parker says.
Don't jump into making a choice, Parker advises. Do a lot of research and talk to other users. These products are becoming
popular, and the amount of information about them is growing fast.
