Dupage Policy Journal

In an effort to increase the efficiency and safety of road-salt use on the village’s icy roads, Downers Grove Public Works crews pre-treated their winter stockpile of road salt late last week with Geomelt 55, a liquid material more commonly known as "beet juice," which counteracts many of the negative effects of road salt.

SNI Solutions, based in Geneseo, Illinois, supplies the village with the product and the delivery system. Applied at a rate of 5-6 gallons per ton of salt, Geomelt 55 provides several benefits, including reducing the corrosive effects of road salt by 80 percent, reducing the release of chloride into the water and soil, allowing salt to work better at  freezing temperatures and increasing the ice-melting capacity of salt. Geomelt 55 also boosts staff efficiency, as the mixture with salt requires fewer road applications.