How Is Sea Salt Harvested?

Quick Answer

Sea salt is made by letting seawater evaporate in shallow ponds using sun and wind, leaving salt crystals that are raked and collected.

The Full Story

Seawater contains about 3.5% dissolved salts, mostly sodium chloride. At salt works, water is channelled through a series of shallow pans or ponds where the sun and wind gradually evaporate it and concentrate the brine. As it becomes saturated, salt crystals form and settle on the pond floor or float on the surface. Workers rake the crystals into piles to dry before cleaning and packing. In some places, such as Guérande in France, a delicate surface crust called fleur de sel is skimmed off by hand.

Key Facts

1.Evaporating one litre of seawater leaves roughly 35 grams of salts.

2.Some salt ponds turn pink or red because of salt-loving algae and microbes.

3.Most of the world's salt comes from underground rock salt mines and brine wells, not the sea.

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