[Scpg] fossil-free Re: [sb-simplicity-circle] Re: -SBOrgGdn- making salt

Wed Jul 30 09:15:54 PDT 2008

 I think this has been a useful an interesting exchange. What has interested me about this exchange is how much "reskilling"(a term Rob Hopkins came up with in Transition Towns) we need to do; and how much knowledge we need to recapture to live sustainably.? It is also clear that are drive for sustainability will constantly run into the intense damage that we have already done to the environment.? That we worry about the safety of salt speaks to how insane a world we live in.? I ran into this on the issue of processing oak acorns.? The Chumash could place acorns in running streams and under waterfalls to leach the tannins out. We would probably make ourselves very sick if we attempted the same process in the same streams and waterfalls that they used.? 

So we have a lot of skills to reacquire and a lot of remediation to do, but it will be worth the effort.

Larry Saltzman

-----Original Message-----
From: Owen Dell <odell at silcom.com>
To: sbperm2006 at googlegroups.com
Cc: lbsaltzman at aol.com; christa at cecmail.org; sbogc at yahoogroups.com; sbfoodfuture at googlegroups.com; sb-simplicity-circle at lists.riseup.net; scpg at arashi.com; fossil-free-landscaping at googlegroups.com; sbeec at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 7:22 am
Subject: fossil-free Re: [sb-simplicity-circle] Re: -SBOrgGdn- making salt

This exchange is with one of the staff from Project Clean Water, SB  
County's ocean monitoring agency.

Owen

-----Original Message-----
From: Owen Dell [mailto:odell at silcom.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 9:17 PM
To: Crease, Fray
Subject: water quality question

Hi Fray,

A discussion has come up about making table salt from local ocean
water. Do you happen to know whether it would be safe to do so? I'd
love some info if you have a sec.

Thanks.
Owen

On Jul 28, 2008, at 10:20 AM, Crease, Fray wrote:

Interesting...I don't know specifically the implications but it
also would depend on a few things.  Unrefined salt is a simple
process, although I don't know if unrefined salt is appropriate for
table salt use.  Most table salt I would think requires some
refinement - if you were to contain and properly dispose of those
additives then I suppose that would be okay.

This leads me to (now I am brainstorming) concerns about how what
was left after drying the water would be handled and how big the
operation would be.  It would not be appropriate to dump or wash
what was left after the drying process back into the ocean, or into
a creek, or into the street.  Certainly if it were to be a large
operation, anything to be released back into the ocean would need
to be "clean" and of the same salinity as the natural ocean water.
Or, if a smaller operation, disposed of in another fashion (through
sewer system - but ask your local friendly sanitary district first
for their rules) or hauled to the landfill, or better yet recycled
somehow??

Another environmental factor to consider- ocean water intake - I
know with desalination plants one issue that came up was the vast
(and fast) amount of ocean water intake that impacted marine life.
So the intake would need to be such as to not kill anything (and
filter it to minimize the capture of plankton & other little
floating lives like eggs, etc.)

Hope this helps!

Fray A. Crease
Santa Barbara County Project Clean Water
123 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
phone: (805) 568-3546
fax: (805) 568-3434
fcrease at cosbpw.net
www.sbprojectcleanwater.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Owen Dell [mailto:odell at silcom.com]
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 10:33 AM
To: Crease, Fray
Subject: Re: water quality question

Hi Fray,

Thanks for responding so quickly on a Monday morning. I appreciate it.

I'm envisioning a very small home salt-making operation, which would
involve evaporating (with no energy input, just the heat of the day)
a gallon or so of sea water to make a little over half a cup of salt.
There wouldn't be anything to dispose of. The real question is
whether Santa Barbara sea water would produce a fine gourmet salt
like those from France and elsewhere that one buys in the fancy
markets these days. Or would the non-NaCl elements be toxic or simply
unpalatable? This is all part of the locavore movement, trying to
provide as much of one's diet from local sources as possible.

So the process would be:
1. Go to the beach with a gallon jug. Fill it with sea water. (Is
this legal to do?)
2. Bring it home and pour it into a glass baking dish.
3. Let it sit in the garage or somewhere protected.
4. When all the water has evaporated, scrape the salt up and cook
with it.

That's it. The only question is whether one would be ingesting
concentrated toxins.

Thanks a bunch.
Owen

On Jul 29, 2008, at 11:25 AM, Crease, Fray wrote:

Thanks for the clarifications.  Filling up a bucket of seawater is
not illegal.  For much of the year the ocean quality should be fine
but watch where and when you take the water.  If you want to see
the local weekly ocean water quality results: http://www.sbcphd.org/
ehs/oceandata.htm

The components of raw sea salt will not be toxic, it might need a
desiccant to keep it from sticking (my mom used to use rice).  And
as far as whether SB ocean water makes for a culinary delight, try
it!  I'm curious to know how it comes out...

Fray A. Crease
Santa Barbara County Project Clean Water
123 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
phone: (805) 568-3546
fax: (805) 568-3434
fcrease at cosbpw.net
www.sbprojectcleanwater.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Owen Dell [mailto:odell at silcom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:29 AM
To: Crease, Fray
Subject: Re: water quality question

Thank you, Fray. I'll definitely save a sample for you.

May I share your comments with the group? This topic has generated a
great deal of interest and I'm sure others would love to hear your
thoughts if you don't mind.

Best,
Owen

From:     fcrease at co.santa-barbara.ca.us
Subject:    RE: water quality question
Date:   July 29, 2008 12:11:35 PM PDT
To:       odell at silcom.com

Sure, no problem, share away.

Did you feel our little roller?  5.8 in Chino Hills

Fray A. Crease
Santa Barbara County Project Clean Water
123 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
phone: (805) 568-3546
fax: (805) 568-3434
fcrease at cosbpw.net
www.sbprojectcleanwater.org

>>

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