When Mother Nature Sends a Blizzard, We Melt Snow in a Giant Hot Tub

By NYC Department of Sanitation

Salt spreaders, brine equipment and snow plows are our main line of defense in keeping our roads clear of snow and ice. After roadway brine pre-treatment, we deploy salt at first threats of accumulation, and when that accumulation reaches 2 inches, we deploy a massive fleet of plows to push snow off the roads and toward the curb.

But what happens when we run out of places to put the snow?

The NYC Department of Sanitation has 31 snow-melting trucks that we deploy during major storms, usually to melt snow that has accumulated in dense areas with narrow streets or areas where piles of snow could become a safety issue. From a distance, these melters look like giant hot tubs, with steam emanating into the air as they work. Up close, they’re not as appealing as a hot tub on a frigid winter evening: The water temperature is not scalding hot, but rather closer to 40 degrees. That may seem like a chilly temperature, but it is actually warm enough to melt snow quickly.

We work with the City’s Department of Environmental Protection to identify sewers that can accommodate such large amounts of melted snow. You can see those locations in the appendix of our borough-based Snow Plans. Once these melters are in place, we use front-end loaders to fill them with snow. Among our fleet of snow melters, 29 can each melt 60 tons of snow per hour. We also have two “megamelters” that are each capable of melting 135 tons of snow per hour. After the snow is melted, the water goes through a screen to keep any large debris out of our sewer systems. The melted snow then travels through a sewer treatment plant ensuring the prevention of pollution to NYC waterways.

We don’t deploy snow melters during every storm. And sometimes, it’s not just the strength of the storm that determines whether we deploy them. We also look to the forecast ahead. Last February, we deployed seven melters after receiving more than a foot of snow, knowing that another big snowstorm was likely on the way (and it was!).

Our hope, of course, is that we are not inundated with several feet of snow this winter. But should Mother Nature send us a blizzard, we have the tools to melt hundreds of tons of snow and keep our streets safe.