Can Pickle Juice Save Our Roads and Waters? Exploring Brine Use in Winter Road Maintenance 

When winter grips Minnesota, icy roads pose serious safety risks. From car crashes to slowed commutes, slippery streets affect everyone’s safety and mobility. To combat slippery streets, road maintenance teams have historically relied on rock salt. While effective, this widely-used solution comes at a steep environmental cost, prompting a search for alternatives.  

While Minnesota winters demand robust road safety measures, communities around the world are proving that salt-heavy solutions aren’t the only option. Many regions manage snowy and icy conditions without relying on chemicals, emphasizing thoughtful winter maintenance practices instead. As Minnesota explores alternatives, the question becomes: how can we reduce salt use while maintaining road safety? 

Over the last decade, brine solutions have gained traction as a common practice in winter road maintenance, offering a potential way to reduce salt usage and its environmental impacts. In this context, brine refers to a liquid de-icing solution made by mixing salt (typically sodium chloride) with water to create a precise concentration of 23% salt. This method allows for more efficient application and better adherence to road surfaces, potentially reducing the amount of salt needed. 

Recently, social media has shone a spotlight on an unconventional alternative: pickle juice. Yes, you read that correctly—some have proposed using pickle juice as a quirky way to keep ice at bay. Unlike traditional liquid de-icers, pickle brine is an organic byproduct of food production, repurposed for road treatment. While its novelty makes it an attention-grabber online, it raises important questions about practicality, environmental impacts, and how it differs from more established liquid solutions. 

Why Brine? A Sticky Solution

Traditional rock salt is effective but comes with significant environmental costs. Each winter, Minnesota applies an estimated 365,000 tons of salt to its roads. As it dissolves into runoff, it releases chlorides that linger in our lakes, rivers, and groundwater. These chlorides are nearly impossible to remove and harm aquatic life, alter ecosystems, and even contaminate drinking water supplies. Already, over 60 Minnesota water bodies are listed as impaired due to chloride pollution, with more at risk. This means fewer fish, degraded recreational spaces, and long-term risks to clean water access. 

Brine—a liquid solution of salt and water—offers some advantages. Unlike the brine used in pickling, this carefully calibrated de-icing solution typically contains 23% salt and is designed specifically for winter road maintenance. This solution is applied to roads in liquid form, where it adheres to pavement more effectively than solid rock salt, allowing for more targeted and effective treatment. By pre-treating roads before a storm—a practice known as anti-icing—brine creates a barrier that prevents ice from bonding to the road surface, making it easier to clear.  

One of brine’s key advantages is its speed and efficiency. Because it is already in liquid form, brine begins working immediately, eliminating the need for salt to dissolve. This allows roads to be cleared more quickly, improving safety during storms. Brine also reduces waste—unlike rock salt, which can bounce or blow off roads during application, liquid brine adheres tightly to surfaces. This precision can cut salt use by up to 50%, reducing both costs and environmental impact. Unlike some organic brines, which we’ll discuss later, traditional liquid de-icers do not introduce additional pollutants like phosphorus into waterways.  

One success story comes from the City of Fridley, which upgraded its snow-fighting equipment to include salt brining systems. This initiative, supported by the MWMO, has allowed Fridley to adopt more efficient salting practices, reducing chloride runoff into nearby water bodies and minimizing harm to aquatic ecosystems. By investing in modern equipment, the city improved the precision and effectiveness of its de-icing operations, showcasing how proactive solutions can make a tangible difference. 

However, while brine reduces environmental impact compared to traditional rock salt, it does not eliminate it. Chloride pollution remains a concern, as brine still relies on salt as its active ingredient. The precision of liquid de-icers helps mitigate waste, but the chlorides in brine can still accumulate in waterways over time, posing long-term risks to aquatic ecosystems and drinking water supplies. Brine is a step forward in reducing harm, but it is not a complete solution. Continued research and innovation are essential to find truly sustainable approaches to winter road maintenance that balance safety with environmental protection. 

The Organic Angle: Pickle Juice, Beet Brine, Cheese Brine, and Phosphorus 

Brine’s promise doesn’t stop at traditional salt solutions, but the exploration of organic brines like pickle brine, cheese brine, and beet brine comes with significant caveats. These creative alternatives repurpose materials that might otherwise go to waste, aligning with sustainable practices. For example, Cheese brine, a byproduct of cheese production, has seen some success in places like Wisconsin as an alternative de-icing solution. Communities like the Town of Linn, near Lake Geneva, have implemented cheese brine systems to great effect. By using brine instead of rock salt, Linn saved 400 tons of salt and $25,000-$30,000 during the 2021-2022 winter season. The approach also reduces environmental harm by repurposing waste material that might otherwise be discarded. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has supported these efforts by funding high-capacity brine-making equipment, leading to a 30-year low in salt use per lane mile across the state’s highway system.  

Pickle brine has also captured attention, particularly on social media, for its potential as a quirky and environmentally friendly de-icing solution. Some states have experimented with pickle brine—a byproduct of pickle production—as a de-icing agent, which works similarly to regular saltwater and can melt ice at temperatures as low as -6°F (-21°C). While its use is often touted as an environmentally friendly win, a closer look reveals a more complex story. 

Pickle brine often contains calcium chloride (CaCl₂), which is effective at much lower temperatures than sodium chloride (NaCl) and has garnered attention as a potential solution for extreme winter conditions. Advocates claim it’s safer for the environment due to its lower application rates, but research has shown this claim to be misleading. While it can reduce the total amount of chloride applied, calcium chloride is just as harmful to aquatic organisms like zooplankton as sodium chloride, and in some cases, more so. Zooplankton are critical to freshwater ecosystems, and their loss disrupts food webs and water quality. Additionally, calcium chloride is highly corrosive to metal, difficult to handle and store, and significantly more expensive than traditional rock salt. These factors make it an imperfect and costly substitute, highlighting the need for caution in scaling its use. 

Organic brines, including those derived from pickle brine, cheese brine, and other food waste, share similar challenges despite their innovative appeal. Many of these solutions introduce phosphorus and organic matter into waterways, which can fuel harmful algal blooms, consume oxygen as they decompose, and create toxic conditions for aquatic life. These impacts can offset the environmental benefits of reducing chloride use, particularly in sensitive ecosystems like Minnesota’s lakes and rivers. 

While these organic brines offer creative ways to repurpose waste, they are far from a perfect solution. They still rely on chloride and introduce other pollutants into waterways, highlighting the need for careful evaluation before large-scale adoption. The best approach remains minimizing salt use overall through strategies like pre-treatment, precision application, and reduced reliance on de-icing chemicals. 

Organic brines are worth exploring as part of a broader effort to reduce environmental harm, but their limitations reinforce the importance of focusing on reducing chloride dependency entirely. To protect Minnesota’s waterways and ecosystems, the ultimate goal must be to move beyond chloride-based solutions altogether. 

What’s Next? Innovative Solutions for Urban Watersheds

The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) recognizes the value in exploring and supporting technologies that aim to reduce salt and phosphorus pollution. Some creative solutions, like refining organic brines, offer intriguing possibilities but also highlight the complexities of making these solutions truly sustainable. 

Efforts to refine organic brines, such as Colorado’s field trials with cheese brine in collaboration with Leprino Foods, show potential but underscore the challenges involved. The trials demonstrated that treated cheese brine could lower phosphorus levels, reduce road infrastructure corrosion, and still provide effective de-icing. However, significant obstacles remain, including scaling these practices, addressing logistical hurdles, and ensuring environmental safety over the long term. Organic brines like cheese brine, beet brine, or pickle brine still rely on chloride and often introduce other pollutants, such as phosphorus, into waterways. These limitations underline the need for ongoing research and innovation. 

Ultimately, even the most refined brines cannot fully mitigate the environmental consequences of applying de-icing chemicals. True sustainability lies in reducing dependency on any salt-based solutions. 

Beyond Salt: Innovations for Sustainable Winter Maintenance 

While attempts to improve liquid de-icers continue, the most most impactful and immediate solutions are often the simplest: shoveling, scraping, and plowing. These mechanical methods eliminate the need for chemicals, reducing pollution at the source. Many places around the world with heavy snowfall, such as parts of Japan, Norway, and Sweden, rely on communal and mechanical efforts rather than salt to manage icy conditions. These communities have embraced practices like slowing down while driving, emphasizing shared responsibility, and adopting designs that minimize the need for chemical intervention. 

Long-term innovations also hold significant promise. Heated pavements, particularly those powered by waste energy, offer a chemical-free solution for keeping roads clear. Already in use in some parts of the world, these systems provide a sustainable, long-term alternative that eliminates the need for salt entirely. Similarly, low-salt infrastructure designs—such as incorporating snow barriers, permeable pavement, and optimized drainage—help prevent snow and ice accumulation without relying on de-icing chemicals. 

For areas where de-icing chemicals are still deemed necessary, education on smarter salt use is essential. The MWMO supports “smart salting” training programs for road maintenance crews, businesses, and property managers. These programs teach participants how to apply the right amount of de-icing material at the right time, minimizing waste while ensuring safety. Smart salting emphasizes precision, ensuring that salt is applied only where and when it is truly needed. By improving these practices, communities can significantly cut back on salt use, reducing its environmental impact without compromising safety. 

By combining innovative infrastructure, communal and mechanical snow removal efforts, and education on smarter salt application, we can move toward a future with less reliance on de-icing chemicals. This multifaceted approach helps protect waterways, safeguard ecosystems, and create sustainable winter maintenance practices for generations to come. 

Why This Matters to You 

Chloride pollution affects us all. Whether you enjoy fishing in local lakes, rely on clean drinking water, or simply want to keep Minnesota’s ecosystems thriving, the choices we make about winter road maintenance have long-term consequences. Salt applied to roads doesn’t disappear when the snow melts—it remains in the environment, accumulating year after year, damaging ecosystems, and threatening water supplies. By rethinking how we approach snow and ice removal, we can reduce this impact while still ensuring public safety. 

A Positive Path Forward

Brine and organic alternatives like cheese or pickle brine represent innovative attempts to reduce the environmental harm of winter maintenance. While these approaches show potential, they are far from perfect solutions. 

The best path forward is to use as little salt as possible—or none at all. Adopting strategies like better plowing and shoveling, heated pavements, and low-salt infrastructure design will do more to protect Minnesota’s waterways and ecosystems than any chemical alternative. 

Achieving a salt-free or low-salt future requires a cultural shift, emphasizing safety through slower driving, shared responsibility, and thoughtful winter maintenance practices. By continuing to explore innovative approaches while prioritizing the reduction of de-icing chemicals, we can build a sustainable future that protects both our roads and our water. 

So, while pickle brine may remain a quirky topic, the real success lies in working together to embrace solutions that make salt a relic of the past.