Monday, August 4, 2025
CVTC colleague creates snow removal system to save money, environment
It’s the middle of summer, yet Dustin Peterson is already thinking ahead to when the snow flies.
As a Chippewa Valley Technical College groundskeeper, snow removal is part of Peterson’s job.
When snow is forecasted, Peterson and his colleagues make a plan to clear nearly two miles of sidewalks at CVTC buildings throughout Eau Claire.
But his manager, Darren Gilgen, CVTC director of facilities, learned of a better way.
When Gilgen was at a Wisconsin Salt Wise conference, he came back with a tried-and-true way to use a brine solution to treat sidewalks with a percentage of the salt typically used. The method makes the snow easier to clear and safer for pedestrians.
Gilgen tasked Peterson with further researching the optimal brine mixture and application, the cost of the new process, and the savings.
The system consists of tanks that hold water and salt and pump the solution from tank to tank to keep the salt distributed properly.
“I did a big Google search for DIY brine makers, and I spent hours looking through pictures, reading articles, and watching videos,” Peterson said. “I had to figure out how to put it all together.”
Peterson said CVTC could have purchased a similar system for about $50,000, but Peterson was able to recreate it for $2,000. It took him two weeks to build the system, and it was available to the College in February 2025.
In Peterson’s system, each of the four tanks holds 200 gallons, equaling 800 gallons on hand at one time if needed. From February through the start of spring, Peterson kept 400 gallons ready, which takes about 20 minutes to make with leftover bag salt. The UTV tanks hold 100 gallons for distribution.
By building the system and using it last winter, Peterson has already saved CVTC at least $4,000, which pays for the mixing and holding tank system. They’ve also saved money by utilizing leftover bags of salt to create the brine solution.
Two 25-pound bags of salt will make about 400 gallons of brine solution, which will cover about four applications (approximately two snowstorm cleanups) of the two miles of sidewalks at the College’s Business Education Center and Health Education Center combined.
Those two bags of salt cost approximately $15 in total.
Before Peterson had the brine system up and running, the College would go through nearly 30 bags of salt at a cost of about $210.
Even more so, as a college dedicated to sustainability, by using the system, it saves the environment, Gilgen said.
“Salt doesn’t go away when it goes into the water,” he said. “When it goes into our lakes and streams, it just builds up in concentration. The only way to remove it is desalination, which is extremely expensive. We’re not eliminating salt pollution on our campus completely, but we’re really slowing down that process.”
Peterson, who previously worked as a golf course superintendent and a lawncare manager, said he appreciates Gilgen for giving him an opportunity to use his skills to build the system.
“I love taking on stuff like this, and Darren (Gilgen) knows that. I think he likes knowing that he can task me with something like this, where I get to use my skills and research and then pull something together,” Peterson said. “I love when it’s done, and it all works. It was super cool for me to flip that switch on and to see it working – it was like a pat on my own back.”
