It’s true when it comes to our diet.  It’s true when it comes to electronics.  And it’s particularly true when it comes to salting surfaces in the winter.  While salt is important for safety and protects us from the dangers of snow and ice, it’s also essential to understand the impact of using too much salt.  Excess salt often ends up in storm drains, local streams and rivers.  And when it doesn’t run off over land, it seeps into the ground and can find its way into underground aquifers.  Both the rivers and aquifers provide drinking water in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The Region of Waterloo’s Smart about Salt initiative is one of the first comprehensive salt management programs in Canada.  It ensures both winter safety and the protection of our drinking water by building on the success of the Region’s public sector Salt Management Plan.  The initiative brings salt management awareness, planning and best practices to the private sector and allows contractors, facilities and residents to become participating partners in the protection of our ground water resources.  Sometimes less really is more when you are Smart about Salt.