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
History of salt the salt. In solution mining the salt reaches the surface as brine, from which the water is evaporated leaving salt crystals. Solnitsata, the earliest known town in Europe, was built around a salt production facility. Located in present-day Bulgaria, archaeologists believe the town accumulated wealth by supplying salt throughout the Balkans. Salt was of high value to the Jews, Greeks, Tamils the Chinese, Hittites and other peoples of antiquity. Aside from being a contributing factor in the development of civilization, salt was also used in the military practice of salting the earth by various peoples, beginning with the Assyrians. In