Examples of Municipal and Private Cost Savings
Link to this table

Entity Implementation Period Main Actions Implemented Salt Reduction Cost Savings
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Start 2006 Began making salt brine and anti-icing and adopted several other salt reduction BMPs. 48%
  • New equipment cost $10,000
  • $55,000 scost savings first year
City of Waconia Start 2010 Switch from 1:1 sand:salt to straight salt & liquid anti-icing; calibration; equipment changes; use of air and pavement temperatures. Switch from 1:1 sand:salt to straight salt & liquid anti-icing; calibration; equipment changes; use of air and pavement temperatures. $8,600 yearly cost savings ($1.80 per lane-mile)
City of Prior Lake 2003-2010 Upgrade to precision controllers & sanders; anti-icing & pre-wetting; use of ground temperatures, best available weather data; on-site pre-mix liquid & bulk-ingredient storage, mixing & transfer equipment; staff education. 42% $2,000 per event estimated cost savings; 20 – 40 mg/L decrease in receiving-water chloride (liquid app-only watershed)
City of Richfield Start 2010 All-staff Training*; yearly sander calibration; use of low-pavement-temp de-icers; road crown-only application; minor-arterial-road policy adjustments > 50%
  • $30,000 : 2010-2011
  • $70,000 : 2011-2012
Rice Creek Watershed District Cities 2012-2013 Staff training; purchased shared anti-icing equipment 32% $26,400 in one winter
City of Cottage Grove 2011-2012 Staff training Not available $40,000 in one winter
City of Shoreview Start 2006 Stopped using a salt/sand mixture and moved on with straight salt; set up all its large plow trucks with state of the art salt spreading controls, pre-wetting tanks and controls and pavement sensors; use of calcium chloride in the pre-wetting tanks reduced the amount of rock salt as well; all applicators and supervisors annually attend *Training; crews attend an annual snowplow meeting to review procedures and talk about salt use and conservation methods; trucks set up for anti-icing main roads with calcium chloride. 44% since 2006 $24,468 in 2014
City of Eagan Start 2005 Moved from a 50/50 salt/sand mix to straight salt; eliminated purchase of safety grit; EPOKE winter chemical application technology; use AVL; pre-wet at spinner Not available $70,000 annual savings
Joe’s Lawn & Snow, Minneapolis Start 2013-2014 Owner & staff Training*; purchase of new spreader, temperature sensors; equipment calibration; use of temperature data; on-going experimentation. 50% $770 estimated cost savings in 2014 - Expected to use 20 tons, only use 9 tons

MPCA Smart Salting Training (All entities described above have attending the MPCA Smart Salting Training.)

This page was last edited on 4 August 2022, at 15:14.