“Over the last 30 years, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in salt levels in the water we pull from the Patuxent and Potomac rivers. Once salt enters these drinking water sources, we cannot remove it during the filtration process”
— WSSC Water
2022 Water Quality Report, p. 12
Click here to learn how to be salt wise.
Salt, salt everywhere. Certainly, we don’t want even a drop of that to drink! Neither do the plants and animals who live in Takoma Park and Sligo Creek.
Every grain of salt put down this winter will sooner or later make its way to our waterways, unless swept up. Though we might not get our drinking water from Sligo Creek, many other animals do!
And, a few valleys north in the Patuxent Valley, similar winter salting practices put our water supply at risk.
Photo: Sligo Creek
As a Salt Monitor with FOSC, I test the chloride levels in our local waterways. This winter, following our only significant weather event so far, which saw very little actual snow fall, the levels of chloride in Sligo Creek just south of 410 Hwy shot up to 20 times normal levels!
Photo: Test strip showing Cl- levels at 1004 (in mg/L)
Later that week, I found myself shoveling and sweeping large mounds of excess road salt from the sidewalk along Carroll Avenue, before the rains washed them into the creek.
Once you start seeing these mounds of salt, they seem to be everywhere. You can report excess salt to the county or state for removal.
Photo: Excess road salt shoveled up from a Carroll Avenue sidewalk.
Please, do your part to protect our health and environment by being salt wise!
Click here to learn how to be salt wise.
By Slater Knowles
Friends of Native Trees in Takoma 