FAQ

1. Why should I even consider melting the snow over trucking or dumping?

For many reasons, but mainly because Trecan Snowmelters provide a fast, safe, reliable and cost effective alternative to trucking and/or dumping snow. Savings can average as much as $270.00 per hour and higher using a Snowmelter over trucking.
In addition, in many states and provinces, snow dumpsites now have to be contained, with the melt water runoff controlled. A sizeable cleanup is usually required in the spring. Dumping snow in harbours, rivers, lakes or other waterways is no longer allowed in most states and provinces. Road salt usage is costly, environmentally problematic.

2. What size Snowmelters does Trecan build?

Trecan builds both portable and stationary Snowmelters. The portable Snowmelter sizes range from 15 tons of snow per hour up to 500 tons of snow per hour. The stationary Snowmelter sizes range from 20-tons of snow per hour up to 1200-tons of snow per hour.

3. Does Trecan carry a large inventory of Snowmelters?

Trecan maintains a small inventory of portable Snowmelters that are available for sale. Most Trecan Snowmelters are ordered “semi-custom built”, equipped with special options requested by customers.

4. Does Trecan rent Snowmelters?

Yes, we have a limited supply of Snowmelters that are available for rent. Rent-to-own is a very cost-effective way to become better-acquainted with Snowmelter use.

5. Does Trecan sell used Snowmelters?

From time to time, Trecan has some previously-owned and reconditioned Snowmelters available to sell.

6. Where can I view and/or inspect a Trecan Snowmelter?

Trecan Snowmelters can be found at major airports and municipalities in North America, Europe and Asia. Simply contact us and we will provide you with a list of customers and locations in your area. We can assist you in scheduling an appointment to view one of our Snowmelters.

7. What is the life span of a typical Snowmelter?

Trecan Snowmelters have an average 25-year life span.

8. What types of fuel can Snowmelters use?

Our Snowmelters run on natural gas, diesel, furnace oil and certain types of jet fuel.

9. How do I determine what size Snowmelter or how much melting capacity is needed for my particular area and/or how many hours it will take to melt?

Consult the Trecan snow calculator here.

10. Do you discharge the melt water to a sanitary sewer or storm sewer?

Melt water can be discharged to either system, depending on customer, and local regulations.

In airports applications, glycol from de-cing contamination contained in meltwater snow is now managed using the airport’s existing glycol monitoring and processing systems.

11. If you discharge to a sanitary sewer, do you require permits or must you pay a rate to discharge to the sanitary sewer? Do the sewer-use by-laws regulate the discharge?

Some of our customers do require permits to operate their Snowmelters and some do not, depending on the jurisdiction.

12. Do you have any data on the discharge water?

Approximately 240 US Gallons of water is generated per 1 short ton of snow melted. Discharge water quality depends on the particular contaminants in the snow being melted. A properly maintained and operated Snowmelter will not degrade discharge water quality within normal detection limits.

13. If you discharge to a stormwater sewer, do you discharge to a pond that will trap sediment before discharging the water? Does the unit collect a lot of sediment?

Most of the sediment (typically sand or grit) is trapped in the Snowmelter melting tank. If the sediment is light or fine enough to stay in suspension in the water, then this sediment can leave with the water. In this case, a discharge pond might be necessary – depending on the concentration, or an intercept. For a pit type Snowmelter, the melting pit can be quite large, allowing for a lot of sediment to accumulate – thereby decreasing the frequency of cleanout. Portable Snowmelters, by virtue of being portable, have a smaller (relative) melting tank, so depending on the ingress of sediment (debris), may need to be cleaned out every shift or once a day. Frequency depends on the amount of debris in the snow entering the melting tank/pit.

14. Where can the sediment be land filled?

The sediment could go to the same place as the debris picked up by the city street-sweeping vehicles, or the vacuum trucks that clean out the storm sewers.

15. Is the interior of the unit well-enough reinforced to protect against the junk (concrete blocks, steel fence posts, etc.) that can be found in collected snow?

Trecan Snowmelters are very ruggedly built to handle all manner of debris. Snowmelter melting tank walls and floors are typically 3/16 to 1/4 inch steel plate.

16. At what noise levels do the units operate?

People working around the Snowmelter can quite comfortably talk to each other.