Lakes students study beet juice

If you've been wondering the best way to melt ice on your driveway, students at Lakes Community High School in Lake Villa have some advice: beet juice.

Students in Amanda LeBrun's chemistry classes tested various ice melting products, and concluded a beet juice solution is effective and has environmental benefits.

LeBrun, who also teaches environmental science, had students test which ice melt made water freeze at the lowest temperature.

She asked students to report the effectiveness of the ice melts, considering the experiments' results, the cost of the product and effects each has on the environment.

"It's practical for the town to use (the beet solution)." said Ashley Geske, 15, of Lindenhurst. "It's better for the environment, and it will be better for the us in the end."

Rock salt is used by many local governments before a storm, but there are environmental concerns.

"We're salting the water," said LeBrun, 36, of Antioch. "Microbes can only survive in specific saline levels."

The salt is also corrosive and causes damage to roads.

The beet solution is a mixture containing less salt, but it is also more expensive than other ice melts,

"I hope as more and more places use it, it will become more popular and will drive the cost down." LeBrun said.

The beet juice tested is derived from sugar beets, after the sugar has been extracted.

The molasses-like syrup is mixed with salt brine and calcium chloride. LeBrun discovered the beet solution when a colleague showed her a Daily Herald story about Lake County Health Department testing it in a clinic parking lot and on sidewalks.

LeBrun called the Lake County Division of Transportation and asked for a sample.

"Now we know what is going on and we know how to help," Juan Perez, 15, of Lake Villa, said of salt's corrosive affects.

"Now, I know that beet juice is a safer alternative to rock salt."

Although some results were not what she expected, LeBrun said she plans to share them with county transportation officials.