Smart Salting: Enhanced Winter Maintenance Y2
Ended Feb 28, 2025
Full course description
Overview
This course is designed to address salt pollution on parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks. The ultimate goal is to provide a voluntary, statewide winter salt certification program for private applicators that balances the safety and mobility of people during winter weather months with minimizing salt application and improving application practices to reduce contamination.
Who: Property managers, business owners, landscaping companies, and other private contractors / salt applicators interested in effective ice melting strategies that protect the environment while also maintaining profitability and meeting customer expectations.
What: Topics include pre-season planning, site analysis, and ice fighting strategies.
Why: The use of salt and brine during winter weather months has increased exponentially during the past decade. The chemical properties in salt lower water’s freezing point and allow for safer use of roadways and sidewalks. However, once in the environment, salt cannot be easily removed. It accumulates in the soil and travels into local streams, wells, and drinking water reservoirs causing damage to infrastructure, the environment, and potentially human health.
Course Outline
Module 1: Why Should I Reduce Salt Use? (20 min)
Module 2: What is Smart Salting? (10 min)
Module 3: Pre-Season Preparations (20 min)
Module 4: Site Planning and Contracts (30 min)
Module 5: Storm Operations (40 min)
Module 6: Post-Storm and End of Season Actions (25 min)
Course Developers
This MOST Center course is based on the Enhanced Winter Maintenance Training Manual developed by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Material is presented by a subject matter expert from the Chesapeake Bay Landscaping Professionals.