Now that winter 2023 is wrapping up, it’s time to start thinking about what you will do with the left over road salt. How do you store it so it doesn’t start clumping up or activating due to moisture exposure? It’s vital to store ice melt products correctly during off-season months so it can be used again next winter. Road salt is something that doesn’t go bad – IF it is stored properly. However, the efficiency associated with it can go down, especially if you expose it to moisture. That’s why we thought of sharing a comprehensive guide on how to effectively store road salt.
What is road salt?
Road salt is a mixture of chlorine and sodium. However, road salt is different from table salt, as it is available in an unpurified state. This is the main reason why you can get road salt in bigger granules. You will not be able to use these granules for cooking purposes.
If you don’t pay proper attention to the storage of road salt, you will not just be reducing its efficacy. It can also contribute to the contamination of streams, lakes, soils, and water we drink. For example, just one teaspoon of road salt is capable of polluting up to five gallons of water. This can be deadly for freshwater living species as well.
Most of the snow and ice removal services out there tend to unload piles of road salt on their parking lots and secure it by laying a tarp on top of it. However, this provides very little protection. If you end up contaminating freshwater sources around you due to improper practices of storing road salt, you will also have to deal with the legal consequences that come along with it on your own.
How to store road salt in bulk
Here are some of the proven methods available for you to store road salt in bulk. Go through the methods and pick any of them for your storage needs.
Buy road salt storage containers
There are containers, which you can use to store road salt in bulk. It would be a good thing to invest your money in purchasing such containers. After you store road salt in such containers, you can keep peace of mind as well. That’s because there is no contact between road salt and the ground. You will also be able to keep your road salt in perfect shape and condition until you come across the need to use it.
The bulk road salt storage containers provide protection against snow and rain. If you have to buy too much of containers, you may also think about going ahead with the idea of setting up pop-up shelters. You may easily erect them and use them in the form of storage sheds. When you are using a waterproof fabric or tarp, you need to ensure that you are applying its weight to the base. Then you can make sure that the wind will not move the cover. This method can also help you to keep road salt away from moisture damage that can take place.
Avoid hardening and clumping
Hardening and clumping of road salt is one of the biggest mistakes that you can do. Rock salt is a high absorbent of moisture within warm environmental conditions. If that happens, the molecular combination of road salt can get changed as well. A similar reaction would happen when you clump road salt and harden it.
You should be careful not to lead road salt to harden and clump when you store it. This is where an airtight container can benefit you. You may also think about adding some pieces of charcoal into the airtight container. This will help you with preserving road salt in its perfect condition at all times.
Control temperature and humidity
If you fail to properly control the temperature and humidity of the area you use to store road salt, you will be reducing its efficacy. In other words, you should pay special attention to storing road salt in the right climate conditions.
As mentioned earlier, road salt can quickly absorb moisture. As a result, the overall shelf life of road salt can get reduced. If you use such road salt, you will not be able to get desired results. Hence, make sure that you invest in building a properly climate-controlled space. The space should offer a dry and cool atmosphere for the storage of road salt. If you are going to store road salt for an extended period of time, you will also need to reduce humidity as much as possible.
Adhere to the laws
There are numerous legal requirements that you will need to adhere to during the process of storing road salt. You will need to be careful not to break those laws. If you do, you will end up wasting your time and money.
For example, you should not continuously keep road salt stored in close proximity to the ground. Make sure that you do a bit of research and come up with a safe and legal method to store road salt. Before you buy road salt, you need to have a proper place for the storage of road salt.
Ensure proper transportation of road salt
Similar to the storage of road salt, you should also pay attention to the proper transportation of road salt. Bulk road salt can be heavy, and you will have to deal with numerous challenges when you are transporting it. While keeping that in mind, you should come up with appropriate measures to load road salt into your truck. A salt spreader can provide assistance to you with transporting road salt.
Final words
Now you know how to properly store and manage road salt. Since you will come across the need to use lots of road salt, you should adhere to these tips and learn how to properly store the road salt you have. In the meantime, make sure that you also look for alternative options, which will keep you away from the need of storing road salt in bulk. Have questions? Feel free to call us. We are a leading ice melt and road salt supplier with customers all over the country.