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Crystallizers

When the brine is fully saturated, we call it "pickle." At that point, the brine is holding as much salt as it can, and the salt begins to crystallize. Our watermen pump the pickle into large crystallizer beds – totaling approximately 1,600 acres at our Newark plant.

Here, the brine will undergo its final transformation, yielding pure salt crystals. This is where the art and science of salt making are put to the test. If the days are too hot and the breeze is too gentle, small flakes called "drift salt" can form - to avoid that, our watermen may add brine to the crystallizers. On the other hand, untimely rain could
dilute the brine and delay harvest for weeks - even a whole season.

Ultimately, though, the process continues, and the salt crystals form at the pond surface, dropping to the bottom when they grow heavy enough to overcome the water's surface tension.

Now it's time for harvest.

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