Akron tests a new way to beet ice on streets
CLEVELAND – Mothers have always appreciated the value of the oft-maligned beet. Now drivers in Ohio might, too.
Akron plans to mix a bit of beet juice into its road de-icer this year. Why? The beet apparently is a wonder root, when combined with rock salt brine and calcium chloride, that can keep ice from forming on the streets even at extremely low temperatures.
The Ohio Department of Transportation also plans to use the biodegradable solution on an experimental basis this winter in three counties.
The concoction sticks to the road better than traditional treatments and lessens salt’s corrosive effect on cars, according to city officials.
Akron tested the solution last year and liked the results. The city ordered 4,000 gallons of liquefied beet juice this week and plans to start applying it to the roads once temperatures fall below 17 degrees.
The beet solution will lessen the use and effect of calcium chloride, which is used to boost the effect of salt in very cold weather.
“Calcium chloride is nasty,” said Paul Barnett, Akron’s public works bureau manager. “It’s wicked on cars, bridges, trucks.”
The beet solution, called GEOMELT, comes from sugar beets, a popular agricultural crop used for sweetener.
“Everyone thinks it’s red or purple, but it’s actually brown,” Barnett said, likening the color and consistency to watery maple syrup.
Once all the sugar has been extracted, a waste product remains. Producers developed the de-icing idea after noticing that the waste never froze.
In fact, GEOMELT’s manufacturer promises it can withstand temperatures to 60 degrees below zero, which, Barnett points out, Northeast Ohio roads never reach. And, if they did, cars wouldn’t run anyway, he said.
Although potent, the solution of 5 percent beet juice, 10 percent calcium chloride and 85 percent salt won’t stain cars or clothes, Barnett promises.
“You could take a bottle of this stuff, pour it on your car and let it sit there for a week, then take a garden hose and wash it right off,” he said.
And animals haven’t been tempted to stand in the road and lick the pavement like a bowl of borscht, either.
Akron has tried other agricultural products for de-icing, including liquid squeezed from corn stalks. Bits of corn stalk, however, plugged nozzles on spraying machines.
“It was a mess,” Barnett said.
He researched the beet juice solution for the past two and a half years. Several states, including Illinois and others out west, already use the product successfully, he said.
At about $2.60 a gallon, however, the solution is expensive compared with 90 cents a gallon for calcium chloride. But it’s less caustic, longer-lasting and better for the environment, Barnett said.