Facts & Stats

Everything that we do on the land, affects the water. This is why changes in water temperature, chemistry, stream forms, aquatic life, and ecological habitats are the most significant indicators of the climate crisis. 

This winter, let’s focus on salt. Would you empty a bag of salt in a stream or lake? Of course not, but that is what we are doing when we use salt in the environment. Spreading salt on sidewalks, driveways, roads, and parking lots can make travel safer for us, but it goes into storm drains, which are connected to underground pipes that funnel the salt to the nearest body of water.

There is also increasing awareness of what has become omnipresent plastic in our water. Recent studies show plastic in human gut, tap water, and foods. Research is only beginning to help us understand how plastics are absorbed by living tissue, and how it is transferred from one species to another. For both salt and plastics, thinking about prevention goes a long way.

Local Action & Ordinances

The Environmental Protection Agency has rules for salt storage, and it is illegal to place salt piles near streams or wells. However, salt piles that are not secured will result in salt flowing to water that may not be visible from the salt pile. The EPA requires monitoring of sodium annually for surface water and every three years for ground water (40 CFR: 141.41). Drinking water advisories for salt reflect the adverse taste of sodium, with EPA’s health recommendation that it not exceed 20 mg/L, and for taste that it not exceed 30-60 mg/L. Water treatment to prevent too much salt in our waters is expensive, and chlorine and chloramine are added to our drinking water supplies to ‘burn out’ the salt.

There are no regulations yet about how much and what plastics we can release to surface water, and no regulations about how much can be in our food, including seafood.

Local Organizing

Education about the problem of increasing levels of salt in our streams is beginning to be brought to public attention by municipal and state government agencies. Salt is a long term pollutant that does not go away, and accumulates in our water supplies whether for wells or municipal draws from streams/rivers, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. Salt causes heightened mortality of the insects that are food for fish. In Chester County, a suburban area west of Philadelphia, the levels of salt in our surfaces waters has been increasing every year, and the rate of increase has accelerated since 2012 according to Andrew Reif, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who analyzes more than 40 years of data on our environmental waters.

Local watershed groups are beginning to organize around the problem of plastics in our waters, using a science-based approach to developing best practices for measurement. The Sierra Club is collecting information and working to help local governments development ordinances to limit the use of plastics. This will require ongoing vigilance by everyone, as the increases in natural gas production will lead to increasingly cheaper sources of plastics in industry, and of things in our everyday lives that are made of plastics. Plastics pose a huge threat to our water.

Stormwater Management

Stormwater management is a principal focus of all towns and neighborhoods, and carries salt and plastics including invisible microplastics. What runs off uphill affects everyone downhill. Much of the transportation, industrial, and commercial infrastructure lack adequate stormwater controls, and solutions come with great expense and one acre at a time. However, the economic costs of stormwater controls are beginning to be known: a 2018 report by ECONW by Rempel and Buckley found that mature trees around streams save $12k to almost $24K per year per acre of stormwater treatment in a suburban setting in the Delaware River basin. Many towns in Pennsylvania have MS4 requirements, which are permits that allow that town to send its stormwater directly to the streams. Stormwater runoff is always damaging to aquatic life, and flooding is damaging to wildlife and human habitats. The Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (thus, MS4) Permit was a product of the EPA for the purpose of decreasing pollution discharges, and current versions require public education about reducing stormwater runoff. It is important to recognize that these efforts have not stopped the degradation of our streams, and there are many things that residents can do to try to keep precipitation so that it infiltrates ‘in place’.

SALT

• Basic facts: “Chlorides in Fresh Water” - URI.edu 
• Influence of salts on our drinking water: “Novel ‘chemical cocktails’ in inland waters are a consequence of the freshwater salinization syndrome”, by Kaushal et al, 2018: 

If you see poorly covered or secured salt piles, report the to the Public Works of the city or township.

PLASTICS 

• Trends in plastic bottles distributions in the Schuylkill River basin: “Choose to Reuse, and #DrinkTapPHL”, by the Philadelphia Water Department: 
• Sustainable Packaging Coalition:
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) education: “Can you cook a plastic-free meal?” NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, Marine Debris Program:

What Can I Do?

To decrease salt use this winter, shovel early, and shovel often, before adding salts. After clearing the surface, consider using an alternative such as sand, wood ashes, kitty litter, and coffee grinds that will provide traction, absorb heat from the sun, and warm the ground. Rock salt is effective at 20o-30oF, and calcium chloride down to 0oF. If an environmentally sensitive area, look for potassium acetate and calcium magnesium acetate. Of the chlorides, calcium chloride is preferred as it is applied at a lower rate and works at lower temperature. Use much less salt than you are used to seeing – an average parking space needs ½ pound of salt. Crystals should never overlap and should be up to three inches apart. Use a shaker or spread by hand.

Try to take single use plastics out of your life, purchase materials of natural fibers, and don’t let garbage containers over flow as this is a common cause of plastics getting into streams. Be kind – pick up plastics when you see it, and remember that the next time we have a heavy rain, a great deal of that loose plastic will find its way to the water.

Talk to your local township to learn more about their MS4 efforts to reduce pollutants going to your streams, lakes, and bays. The Environmental Advisory Council, if your town has one, should be helpful. Offer to help with the public education that is a required component of MS4 permits.

Support your local watershed association, and learn about their initiatives to protect your local streams.