A Comparison of Concentration Trends of Road Salt in Streams of Urbanized and Rural areas in Kingston

Fang, Angela · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.24908/iqurcp19105

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the differential impacts of road salt application on water quality in urbanized versus rural streams within Kingston, Ontario. Motivated by the widespread use of sodium chloride (NaCl) as a cost-effective de-icing agent in Canada, the research addresses the environmental consequences of elevated sodium and chloride levels, which can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems and soil health through changes in electrical conductivity, salinity, and sodicity. The primary research question focuses on comparing how road salt influences water quality parameters in these two distinct land-use settings. The methodology involved analyzing water stream quality data from two sampling stations located in Little Cataraqui Creek, selected to represent varying degrees of urbanization. The study utilized ArcGIS to map road density within a 1km radius of each site to contextualize the level of anthropogenic influence. Statistical analysis, specifically linear regression, was performed on 2022 data to examine the relationships between chloride concentrations, electrical conductivity, and pH levels in both the urban and rural streams. The results revealed significant differences between the two sites. In the urban stream, conductivity was an exceptionally strong predictor of chloride variability, explaining 99.66% of the variance (R² = 0.9966) with a strong positive relationship (β = 0.3271, p < 0.001). In contrast, the rural stream showed a weaker correlation, with conductivity explaining only 77.87% of chloride variability (R² = 0.7787, β = 0.06437, p < 0.01). Temporally, urban streams exhibited high chloride and conductivity levels during winter that declined over time, whereas rural streams maintained lower and more stable levels year-round. While chloride did not significantly affect pH in either setting, urban streams demonstrated greater pH variability. The study concludes that conductivity serves as a reliable proxy for chloride contamination in urban environments, where road salt application is the dominant factor. However, in rural areas, chloride levels are influenced by additional variables such as soil composition, groundwater, and agricultural activities, making conductivity a less precise indicator. The findings highlight that urban streams suffer from higher contamination levels indicative of greater human impact, while rural streams generally retain better water quality. The authors recommend further research incorporating precipitation data and investigating other potential chloride sources in rural streams to better understand seasonal fluctuations and contamination pathways.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• urban rural setting