A query born of complete ignorance

by David Safier

This could be viewed as a cry for help -- scientific help, that is.

Advertisers as well as health food advocates the world round sing the praises of sea salt over . . . not sea salt,wherever that comes from.

One of the problems with desalination of sea water (also called "desalinization" -- see, I know words if not science) is the byproduct, salt. No one knows what to do with all that stuff.

See where I'm heading? What if we substituted the sea salt that's the byproduct of desalinizing sea water for all that other . . . not sea salt?

Since I've heard the term "back to the salt mines," and because I've heard one of the ways they're thinking about disposing of nuclear waste is to put it in salt mines, I assume "not sea salt" is mined in those salt mines.

So, close down the salt mines. Desalinate water,and sell the sea salt byproduct as a way to offset the costs. The result: more water at a reasonable cost (we keep the Colorado water while the people closer to the west coast can use the desalinated stuff, for instance), and more sea salt, which is better for you. Win, Win.

Now, here comes the conspiracy theory born of complete ignorance. Could it be that Morton and the rest of the companies involved in the "Salt mine/Industrial Complex" are standing in the way of a shift from salt mine salt to sea salt?

Those of you who know more than I, stop laughing and start explaining.

Comments

[Thane Eichenauer]

I have worked for many years at several health food stores. I still favor non-run of the mill salt. I in general do not like additives and preservatives added to most food items in the supermarket and salt is one of them. Most non-mainstream salt (NMS) claims the benefit of minerals and trace minerals. NMS is often mined from salt water deposits.

http://www.google.com/search?q=himalayan+salt

I am also looking forward to more comments that expound on what is good about salt A, B or C.

[Trudy W. Schuett]

I'm originally from Michigan, which sits on top of part of the nation's largest underground deposit of salt.

Salt for food is only a small percentage (10% or under)of the general uses for salt. The other uses are industrial, with the most salt used for de-icing roads in the winter. Road salt is minimally processed, i.e., they take it right out of the ground and crunch it up.

Using sea salt for de-icing roads would be far too expensive, when you consider the sheer tonnage of the stuff used in cold, snowy states every winter. There might not even be enough sea salt to do the job -- but that's just a guess on my part.

[Ben Kalafut]

Surely you're joking about that conspiracy theory, which is right up there with the one about cars that run on water being suppressed by the oil companies. And I would hope that I don't have to explain to you how capitalism works. If it were better to produce table and industrial salt by desalination, Morton and its competitors would probably be in that business.

The usual waste product is not solid salt but a highly concentrated brine. One would have to sit down and do some serious pencil pushing to figure out how much of this stuff a plant produces per year, how much additional energy is needed to solidify it, then research buyers, prices, etc. to see if it's worthwhile.

Let me make it a bit more clear: desalination is usually considered an environmentally poor option in part because the brine is returned to the sea. If producing sea salt in this way was effective, the existing desalination plants, in the Emirates, in Tampa, etc. would be selling salt.

But if someone was to be looking for startup capital for opening up a cogenerating nuclear power/desalination plant in the Tijuana area that would sell water and electricity to the Californians, I'd put in a thousand dollars!