Town Using Saltwater to Prevent Snow Buildup

The township is utilizing saltwater to prevent the build up of snow on roads.

Department of Works (DPW) personnel have coated roads with a special brine mixture, which is basically saltwater, to prevent snow from accumulating. The township started using the mixture last year.

“The intent is to create a barrier so that it’s less likely snow will get packed on,” said Geroge Holzapfel, DPW director.

Between two and four inches of snow is forecast to fall on North Jersey Thursday into Friday. A winter weather advisory is in effect.

The mixture is loaded into eight dump trucks and slowly dripped onto roadways two days before it is scheduled to snow.

“We believe that by doing it we’re going to reduce our overall salt consumption we won’t have hard, packed snow that we’d have to break up later on,” Holzapfel said. “We believe we’re going to be utilizing less salt in the long run.”

For the latest information regarding snow conditions in town call the DPW’s snow emergency hotline at: 973-694-6909 and press “7”.

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