Towns Turn to Molasses and Garlic Salt During Salt Shortage
A national salt shortage has U.S. towns and cities turning to alternatives that include molasses, garlic salt and a product that smells like soy sauce reports the Wall Street Journal.
Soaring rock-salt prices are prompting communities across the U.S. to try novel alternatives for clearing snow and ice, including molasses, garlic salt and a rum-production byproduct that smells like soy sauce.
Rock-salt prices normally surge in January and February, when communities running low on salt resort to buying the de-icing compound on the open market. But after last year's fierce winter taxed supplies, state and local government officials ordered tens of thousands of tons more salt ahead of this season. The high demand pushed salt prices to $60 to $120 per ton in many places, from last year's range of $30 to $50 a ton.
The molasses mix being used according to the WSJ is a mix of molasses, calcium chloride and brine. It's said to be a gooey mixture (as you might expect) but those using it claim it works.
Paul Simonsen, a maintenance superintendent for the Washington state department of transportation, has been mixing de-sugared molasses into saltwater, creating a gooey mixture that can keep roadways clear for three or four wintry days, he said.
The mix consists of molasses from a local supplier, calcium chloride and brine donated by a local dairy company. Mr. Simonsen had been experimenting with the right proportions and ingredients for several years, blending them in a 1,000-gallon vat and dispersing the liquid with the same salt trucks. He first used it last year on a busy mountain pass in southwest Washington.
As long as the chemicals being used can lower the freezing point of the snow and ice and help drivers gain traction than it should be effective - or at least better than it would be if you did nothing at all.
