Heavy salting of Albritten' s roads to melt winter ice and snow began about 20 years ago  The area' s groundwater now contains approximately 100 milligrams of dissolved salt per liter  Groundwater in a nearby, less highly urbanized area, where little salt is used and where traffic patterns resemble those of Albritten 20 years ago, contains only about 10 milligrams of dissolved salt per liter
Since water that contains 250 or more milligrams of dissolved salt per liter tastes unacceptably salty, continuing the salting of Albritten' s roads at its present rate will render Albritten' s groundwater unpalatable within the next few decades
Even water that contains up to 5, 000 milligrams of dissolved salt per liter is safe to drink.