Summary

Problem Summary

In highly populated regions of Toronto, de-icing agents are used to remove snow and ice from roadways in winter. The primary agent used for this purpose is rock salt consisting mainly of sodium chloride.[17] Highland Creek, one of the most urbanized watersheds in the GTA, consistently sustains chloride levels above the guideline for aquatic health of 120 mg/L, leading to the destruction of natural ecosystems, freshwater sources,[18] and concrete surfaces by corrosion[19]. Even though the City of Toronto is aware of the toxicity of high concentrations of chloride, salt, being the most effective and cost-efficient way to help keep Toronto roadways and sidewalks safe and accessible for residents, is still the main de-icer used on roads and walkways.[17] How can we reduce the salt concentrations of the Highland Creek watershed to improve the aquatic environment, groundwater quality, and surface water quality, while keeping surfaces clear of ice?

Solution Summary

To reduce the amount of road salt discharged into the Highland Creek watershed, we propose the creation of an informative mobile app that will recommend different alternatives and methods to de-icing roads. Initially, the goal is to target residents and businesses, but in the future, the app can be used by the municipality of Toronto and MTO to encourage the use of these alternative methods. Currently, there is no one best alternative, economically or commercially to using road salt as a de-icing agent [17]. There are however multiple different alternatives and methods of using road salt that are effective. Each of these comes with advantages and disadvantages depending on the conditions and scale of the de-icing problem. This app will provide users with tailored solutions or alternatives for their de-icing problem, while also acting as an informative platform to discuss the concerns with using salt as a de-icing agent.

Untitled

Mock-up of the app solution showing the four main pages. Beet juice information is from [15]. Image and text in the ‘About’ page is from [16].

Practical Humility Clause

For our challenge, we considered that most of our stakeholders would agree to implement higher-cost alternatives since they are more affordable in the long run, as we discovered that high chloride concentrations lead to cracks in concrete surfaces. So, to convince the stakeholders, we instructed them that maintenance costs would be cost-effective in the long run. As we aren't financial experts, we don't have the resources and time to calculate how economical our project is. If the alternatives aren't economical, then stakeholders may not be keen on our solution. Moreover, a stakeholder which we have overlooked is part of the residents, the indigenous community of Toronto, one of the largest in North America [20]. If their community contributes a lot to the use of salt for de-icing, the implementation stage of our solution may be affected by communication problems we did not consider.