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Name : Walvis Bay salt works
Location : Atlantic coast of Namibia
Salt production in Walvis Bay covers an area of about 12,350 acres.
Coordinates:-23.026816314419552 , 14.464431525720594
Why it ’s incredible : The salt pan depend like a colored patchwork quilt from above .
Walvis Bay is a port metropolis on the Atlantic coast of Namibia that is base to an tremendous ocean salt production plant . The flora has been operating for more than 60 eld thanks to the region ’s waterless climate and coastal winds , which are idealistic for evaporating seawater containing the salt .
The saltworks are locate about 5 miles ( 8 kilometers ) southwest of Walvis Bay metropolis center . The plant covers an orbit of 12,350 acres ( 5,000 hectares ) , consort toWalvis Bay Salt Holdings , making it roughly half as big as Disney World in Florida .
Salt production at Walvis Bay relies on Atlantic seawater that is pumped at a rate of 8,500 cubic substructure ( 240 cubic meters ) per min into artificial pool , according to the guided tour operatorDesert , Dunes and Dust Tours . The plant is feed by the Benguela Current — a insensate , N flow ocean stream that forms the easterly limb of the South Atlantic subtropical scroll .
Evaporation via a combination of the sun ’s warmth and malarky increases the salt content in the pond from about 2.9 % to 3.5 % , which is still liveable for plankton , algae and minor sea critter . These creatures and microorganisms can grow the ponds so colored , the flora count like a tile mosaic from above .
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pump transfer the saltwater ensue from this initial evaporation stage to absorption ponds , where the common salt substance arise to 25 % . Another stage set of pumps then siphons this H2O into crystallization ponds that each duad about 50 acres ( 20 hectares ) in size , or about 38 football field .
By the end of the crystallization stage , each pond contain a 4- to 6 - column inch - thick-skulled ( 10 to 15 cm ) salt impudence , which mechanical harvesters move out and floor into huge bins . A conveyor smash then rent these bins to a facility where the table salt crystals are wash out with a mixture of brine and gypsum that dissolves impurities such as Mg and atomic number 19 , while keeping the salt intact .
After washing , the salt is dried in huge slews outdoors . Around 240 tons ( 220 metrical tons ) of salt are washed and dry out every hour at Walvis Bay , come to a full annual product of more than 1.1 million tons ( 1 million metric wads ) of salt , according to Walvis Bay Salt Holdings .
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The company exports chemical - grade salt used in industries like animate being provender production , water system treatment and pharmaceuticals to Nigeria , Cameroon , South Africa and Europe . It also exports table salt for human consumption to several countries in Africa , including South Africa , Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo .
Walvis Bay ’s saltworks are also a feeding background for shrimp and larval Pisces , which in twist attracts hoot . Together with the nearby Walvis Bay Lagoon and a hiss bema , the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks yield plant provides coastal wetland habitat for razz like flamingo and pelicans , according to the websiteBirdingplaces .
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