Less Salty 2026: Deicing with Sand
posted
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 Sand
Another alternative to salt is sand. Just like salt, you do not need much, just enough to get traction. The sand you get from sand piles will likely have a little bit of salt mixed in just to keep the sand and salt separate and prevent the sand from freezing all together. You can find locations for sand piles in the City of Madison on the Streets Division website.
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: Smart Salting Contracts
The free webinar starts at 12:30 p.m., central time. They’ll be streaming live on YouTube:
Info on the free webinar
Knowing how to ask for best practices can be difficult. If you aren’t an industry professional, you likely feel out of your league when deciphering terms like deicing vs anti-icing, pre-treatment vs pre-wet. What chemical deicers should you ask for or steer away from? Learn the basics about industry best practices and valuable resources that are available to support you to get the services you need and reduce liability at your property.
Presenters: Martin Tirado, Snow & Ice Management Association, and Jim "Turk" Turcan, Cornerstone Partners Horticultural Services Co.
Happy Winter Salt Week!
This content is free for use with credit to City of Madison Engineering.