Knox County Finds Unusual Way To 'Beet' Snow and Ice
By: Katie Shane
Updated: January 19, 2011
The old saying goes an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
But the Knox County Highway Department started a new saying; a few beets can keep the snow and ice off the street.
It may sound silly, but the veggie is working and saving the county thousands.
"It's a salt brine with beet juice. Beet juice is a molasses, so it's sugar," said county highway department foreman Joe Pea. "It'll turn it to a slush and then to puddles and it will be fighting the storm for us."
While the mix may be doing all the work now that wasn't always the case.
For months staffers at the highway department constructed storage tanks and through trial and error discovered a recipe for the mix.
"This whole system if we would go out and buy it commercial with the generator, stand up tanks and storage tanks and applicators it should have cost us 100 thousand dollars," Pea said.
Instead the crew's do-it yourself effort totaled a little over $10,000.
"It took every employee here to make it happen," Pea said of the staff.
The new mix was put to the test last week during the first snow of the year.
It cut clean-up by two days and saved thousands of dollars.
Each snowstorm usually costs the county $30,000, but only $2,000 was spent using the "beet" mix.
County Commissioners tell NBC 2 they're proud and give all credit to the department.
The community also showed its gratitude.
"Our phones rang off the hook and instead of complaints, I don't know of one complaint that we got," Pea said. "Everything has been very positive and thanking us for our efforts."
The crew says having the whole county behind them and clear roads, well you can't "beet" that.
When NBC 2 was at the garage Tuesday the crew was waiting out the rain to start preparations for the upcoming snow.
They will be using the new mix again this week.
But the Knox County Highway Department started a new saying; a few beets can keep the snow and ice off the street.
It may sound silly, but the veggie is working and saving the county thousands.
"It's a salt brine with beet juice. Beet juice is a molasses, so it's sugar," said county highway department foreman Joe Pea. "It'll turn it to a slush and then to puddles and it will be fighting the storm for us."
While the mix may be doing all the work now that wasn't always the case.
For months staffers at the highway department constructed storage tanks and through trial and error discovered a recipe for the mix.
"This whole system if we would go out and buy it commercial with the generator, stand up tanks and storage tanks and applicators it should have cost us 100 thousand dollars," Pea said.
Instead the crew's do-it yourself effort totaled a little over $10,000.
"It took every employee here to make it happen," Pea said of the staff.
The new mix was put to the test last week during the first snow of the year.
It cut clean-up by two days and saved thousands of dollars.
Each snowstorm usually costs the county $30,000, but only $2,000 was spent using the "beet" mix.
County Commissioners tell NBC 2 they're proud and give all credit to the department.
The community also showed its gratitude.
"Our phones rang off the hook and instead of complaints, I don't know of one complaint that we got," Pea said. "Everything has been very positive and thanking us for our efforts."
The crew says having the whole county behind them and clear roads, well you can't "beet" that.
When NBC 2 was at the garage Tuesday the crew was waiting out the rain to start preparations for the upcoming snow.
They will be using the new mix again this week.
