Brine Brine is used for food processing and cooking (pickling and brining), for de-icing of roads and other structures, and in a number of technological processes. It is also a by-product of many industrial processes, such as desalination, and may pose an environmental risk due to its corrosive and toxic effects, so it requires wastewater treatment for proper disposal. Saline water with relatively high concentration of salt (usually sodium chloride) occurs naturally on Earth's surface (salt lakes), crust, and within brine pools on ocean bottom. Numerous processes exist which can produce brines in nature. Modification of seawater via evaporation results in
Great Salt Lake rise and fall, mercury accumulation does as well. About 16 percent of the mercury comes in from rivers, and 84 percent comes from the atmosphere in a non-toxic, inorganic form. The non-toxic mercury is converted into toxic methyl mercury by bacteria which thrive in the more saline water of the North arm affected by the causeway. Great Salt Lake contributes an estimated $1.3 billion annually to Utah's economy, including $1.1 billion from industry (primarily mineral extraction), $136 million from recreation, and $57 million from the harvest of brine shrimp. Solar evaporation ponds at the edges of the lake produce salts