On Sat, 20 Feb 2021 20:25:46 -0800 (PST), AK
wrote:

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 4:16:08 PM UTC-6, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 17 Feb 2021 11:08:34 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9:58:59 AM UTC-5, rbowman wrote:
On 02/17/2021 03:10 AM, wrote:
On Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 9:06:29 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
The "salt" they've been using to keep ice off our sidewalks looks pink.

Does anyone know what it is?

Salt with dye in it, so they can tell where they've already salted.
Good. I was worried they were stealing my Himalayan pink salt when I
wasn't looking.

You beat me to it, that's exactly what I was thinking.
Before I posted, I googled and found that stuff, but it seemed too
expensive to do sidewalks with.

What is the point of that stuff?
Road crews use salt on roads and other surfaces in the winter Salt lowers the freezing point of water, which prevents ice from forming Salt loses its effectiveness once the temperature falls below 15 degrees In addition to clearing snow and ice from roads, plows also put down a lot of salt on roads and other surfaces this time of year.
Andy
Generally the pink ice melter is a combination of magnesium chloride
and Calcium Chloride . It is effective to -25F and has a residual
effect (continues to keep ice from forming for some time) It is
generally made with Calcium Magnesium Acetate as an additive. It is
safe on concrete and is less corrosive than sodium chloride - and
actually inhibits corrosion caused by sodium.