Less Salty 2026: Deicing with Salt

We are excited to bring you unique content from local experts each day with statewide live webinars at 12:30 p.m. on YouTube all week long. 

Less Salty 2026: with Phil Gaebler

Today’s Episode: Deicing with Salt

After you’ve removed as much snow and ice with your winter kit tools, salt may be a good option to break through the last bit of ice. If you do need to use salt, a little goes a long way. Make sure to do a light sprinkle, making sure there is space between each granule.

Our focus with Less Salty with Phil Gaebler is to help property owners learn how to minimize salt use, know when to use salt and how, plus making sure companies you hire, neighbors and community know about responsible salt use in the City of Madison. 

Phil Gaebler is a stormwater engineer with decades of experience in the environmental engineering world. He works for the City of Madison Engineering Division and kickstarted the City with Wisconsin SaltWise with the inception of the now-statewide group. He’s also tasked with completing in-house training for all City salt crews on salt calibration, salt use and more, which helps inform City leaders make decisions on salt use implications, citations, use on roads, sidewalks and more. 

Winter Salt Week Offered Livestream Today! 

While we’ll be sharing a new episode of Less Salty each day this week, don’t miss out on the livestreams over the lunch hour each day with national salt experts sharing their expertise and experiences that have proved successful in their communities.

Today’s topic: Saltwise Stories

The free webinar starts at 12:30 p.m., central time, and it’ll be streaming live on YouTube here:   

Info on the free webinar: 

Hear directly from winter maintenance practitioners who have made the shift to smarter salting. In this webinar, they’ll share how they built the business case for change—reducing costs, improving efficiency, and protecting local waters. You’ll learn how they retooled their operations, from equipment upgrades to staff training, and what results they’ve seen on the ground. These leaders now pay it forward by educating peers, supporting contractors, and inspiring communities to adopt Salt Wise practices of their own.

Presenters: Phill Sexton, WIT Advisers, and Aron Rodman, Extra Mile Snow Plowing

Happy Winter Salt Week!