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Test Your Salt IQ!

You don’t have to be an expert to help reduce salt pollution in America’s streams and drinking water. But by the end of this quick quiz, you’ll know more about this serious, but often overlooked problem. And it’s easy to get started in this unique Izaak Walton League program.

Applying salt and other chemicals to roads, sidewalks or parking lots can keep us safe during the winter. But it can be too much of good thing. Test your awareness about treating icy surfaces and why it matters.

1. Let's say you want to use salt-based de-icer for a 20-foot driveway. How much should you use?

a. A tablespoon
b. A 12-ounce mug
c. A three-gallon bucket
d. Just use the whole bag

2. Okay, you have salted a driveway. What should you do next?

a. Salt the grass so wild animals don't slip and fall
b. Go back inside because salt does all the work
c. Wait 15 to 30 minutes, then shovel the snow and ice, which has been softened by the salt
d. Buy more salt because you just used the whole bag

3. What's the big deal about salt anyway?

a. Salt gets into our drinking water where it can cause health problems
b. Road salt can corrode and damage cars, bridges and water pipes
c. Road salt can harm plants and kill aquatic life when it leaches into streams
d. All of the above

4. How much salt is used each year to treat ice in the United States?

a. 20,000 tons
b. 200,000 tons
c. 2 million tons
d. 20 million tons

5. What happens to salt after a storm?

a. The salt evaporates
b. Our concern about salt evaporates
c. It washes into the ground and into local waterways
d. It ends up in a salt reclamation tank at the water treatment plant

6. What should you do if you see evidence of overuse, like piles of salt on the road?

a. Report it to your local department of transportation or environmental protection
b. Report it to the National Guard
c. Call 911
d. Try not to think about it

7. How can you help reduce salt use in your community?

a. Talk to your neighbors about smart salting
b. Write a letter to the editor explaining the downside of excessive road salt use
c. Move to a community in a warmer place where it never snows
d. A and B

8. How can you know if excessive salting is a problem in your community?

a. Look carefully to see if the stream appears to be salty
b. Get a Salt Watch kit from the Izaak Walton League and measure salt levels in a local waterway
c. Visit the interactive results page to see reports from your community
d. B and C

Why It Matters

Excessive amounts of chloride can enter streams, harming aquatic life, and eventually find its way into drinking water, which can harm human health. More than 118 million Americans depend on local streams for drinking water.

Some products marketed as pet-friendly are primarily chloride- or salt-based and can still cause harm.

Get Started Now

Order a free Salt Watch kit.

Next, start monitoring your local streams. No training is required.

Report your results so everyone can see and benefit from your help.

Get your free Salt Watch kit now

Salt Watch is a trademark of the Izaak Walton League of America.

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