By: Joe Holz, Director of Sales | Originally Posted: Nov. 14th, 2018 | Updated: Aug. 15th, 2022
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Life is a series of goals we create for ourselves. Having a clear goal or objective allows you to make the best choices it takes to achieve it. Additionally, it helps you determine what is realistic for your situation. The same can be said for de-icing bodies of water. Knowing what you are trying to accomplish will help you and us figure out the best means of addressing the situation.

Key Factors of De-icing

Although geographical location plays a key role when it comes to determining the best de-icing solution, there are many other elements that need to be considered. Water depth, bottom contour, obstructions in the water like dock pilings, and local weather conditions all factor into de-icing. This is why, often times, we refer to de-icing as an art-form rather than an exact science.

Although geographical location plays a key role when it comes to determining the best de-icing solution, there are many other elements that need to be considered. Water depth, bottom contour, obstructions in the water like dock pilings, and local weather conditions all factor into de-icing. This is why, often times, we refer to de-icing as an art-form rather than an exact science.

The Effects of Too Much Open Water

We often get requests from both industrial and residential applications to keep entire bodies of water open. However, the answer almost always the same; it just isn’t possible without adding heat to the water. The only exception is if you are in an area that gets very short periods of ice and the temperature is usually above freezing.

De-icing too aggressively, especially in small and/or shallow bodies water, can actually create more ice. The earth cannot heat the bottom faster than the air will cool it. For that reason, you cannot expose enough warm water to the surface and maintain a completely ice-free body of water without cooling it so much that ice will gradually begin to develop.

What is Your De-icing Goal?

As mentioned earlier, identifying a goal will help us determine what you need to accomplish it. If your goal is to keep an entire body of water open, you simply need to adjust your goal. However, most of the time this isn’t the case. When it comes to de-icing, the goal is usually to keep enough open water to maintain waterfowl in a residential application or to keep equipment in the water and running in an industrial application. With these more refined and obtainable goals, we can successfully address the situation with Kaso De-icers or RobustAire Diffused Aeration systems and accomplish what is needed.

We are always happy to assist in the design and layout of your de-icing project. We will need some information to get started such as the size and depth of the body of water, any in-water obstructions, geographic location, and of course, your clearly defined goal of what you want to achieve with de-icing.

Let us help you achieve your goals by emailing us or calling 715-262-4488.