Impacts of deicing salts on soil structure and infiltration rate

Many biofiltration facilities are located adjacent to paved infrastructure, which encourages their use as a snow storage location during the winter for snow removed from these pavements. This snow, which is contaminated with deicing salts, typically is allowed to infiltrate as the snow melts. The literature has documented any cases where the change in the ratio of sodium to calcium and magnesium has resulted in the dispersion of soil clays with a resultant loss in infiltration rate. In this study, two proposed soil mixtures, distinguished by their clay and organic content, have been evaluated for their loss in infiltration capacity as a function of salt load. At the end of the experiments, the actual pore size distribution was determined using the mercury intrusion porosimetry method. Interim results show the decrease in infiltration rate as a function of salt loading (pore volumes of water). However, this decrease was more rapid than indicated by other studies in the literature.