Managing salt pollution to protect drinking water resources and freshwater ecosystems
Doctors often tell us, "cut back on your salt." And just like too much dietary salt is bad for blood pressure, too much salt in our nation's streams, lakes, and reservoirs threatens ecosystem health and the security of our nation's drinking water and food supplies.
"Salt levels are rising fast in freshwaters across the United States," said Stanley Grant, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering and the principal investigator of a recent multimillion dollar grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at addressing the issue. "It's a slow-moving train wreck. If we don't figure out how to reverse this trend soon, it could become one of our nation's top environmental challenges going forward."