Evaporation pond
Evaporation ponds are artificial ponds with very large surface areas that are designed to efficiently evaporate water by sunlight and expose water to the ambient temperatures. Evaporation ponds are inexpensive to design making it ideal for multiple purposes such as wastewater treatment processes, storage, and extraction of minerals. Evaporation ponds differ in usage and result in a wide range of environmental and health effects. Uses Extraction Salt evaporation ponds produce salt from seawater. Evaporation ponds are used to extract Lithium from underground brine solution. The extracted Lithium is then used to make ion batteries. Mines use them to separate ore from water. The ore can be sold for use in different industries. Potash evaporation ponds are used to extract potassium from the mineral rich solution. The potassium extracted is used for products like fertilizer. Storage Evaporation ponds are also used to dispose of brine from desalination plants. Evaporation ponds at contaminated sites remove the water from hazardous waste, which reduces its weight and volume and allows it to be more easily transported and stored. Evaporation ponds are used to prevent run off agricultural wastewater contaminants like pesticides, fertilizers and salts from entering bodies of water they would normally flow into.