A mozzarella byproduct could soon be helping to melt ice on Milwaukee streets, a project befitting a state where football fans proudly wear foam cheese wedges on their heads.

Chuckle if you must, but Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski said spreading cheese brine on the roads of America's Dairyland could be a boon for the environment and the municipal budget. The city recently decided to proceed with a pilot project testing cheese brine as a supplement to rock salt, a few months after a Zielinski-led resolution directed the Department of Public Works to study using the brine in de-icing.

The cheese brine — which "has a distinctive odor," according to a city report — would be used in cold weather to wet rock salt right before it's dropped on the street, said Wanda Booker, Milwaukee's sanitation services manager.

Cheese brine is a salt and water solution commonly used in the making of Italian varieties such as mozzarella and Parmesan, said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. When it's no longer suitable for soaking provolone, Umhoefer said the brine is usually discarded as industrial wastewater.

"It's a great recycling idea," Umhoefer said. "What better to put on your roads than the scent of mozzarella?"

The plan is not entirely new. According to the city's report on cheese brine, a county in rural Wisconsin saves money on de-icing by using brine it receives free from a local cheese-maker.

Soon, officials in Wisconsin's largest city will see if cheese brine is ready for the big time. In order for Milwaukee to test the cheese brine this winter, it first has to locate a supplier and secure a state permit, Booker said. If the city clears those hurdles, Booker said crews will test cheese brine's effectiveness on a short route.

"We're able to take something that was a waste product and turn it into something that's useful," said Zielinski, who would like to see cheese brine used on slick roads in other urban centers if the Milwaukee test succeeds. "The idea is that the more we can reduce the salt, which we have to pay for, the less money it would cost and the better for our environment."

mitsmith@tribune.com