Well, no.  We don’t do ice control in the summer.  However, we do use our ice control spray equipment year round. In the summer we do dust control.  The base liquid for most dust control is the same as anti-icing… magnesium chloride. Hence, the same equipment can be used for both.  The only difference is that the application rate for dust is much higher than anti-icing. That is normally accomplished by higher flow rate spray heads.  All else is the same.

Dust control liquids can be applied to dirt roads, parking lots, and even horse arenas and livestock areas. Think about it.  Dust on dirt roads can become objectionable easily.  Even if liquid mitigation only is applied near people/animals/structures, it can be a huge work and health saver for the people & animals affected.

In the case of arenas, dust is a significant health issue for horses or other animals.  Breathing dust causes horses to develop respiratory issues easily parituclarly when working hard and breathing hard . Most of the time dust is controlled with a combination of wetting and harrowing.  With water shortages in the midwest & west, that is not as economical as it used to be.  So spraying dust with a mag based solution will dramatically reduce the need for wetting, and reduce the use of water down to almost nothing.  Animals are much happier and perform better in a treated arena. Different blends of mag are used for different arena surfaces. There are blends for dirt, sand, or sand with rubber shreds.  Most vendors are willing to train in the use of their products in various environments. Some will provide free or low cost analysis to help you use the best product for the material in the arena being considered.

Later we will talk about other seasonal uses for liquid ice control equipment.  Stop back soon.