Introduction
The fields of industrial microbiology and solar salt production may
seem antithetical, as salt is generally regarded as a bacteriostatic
agent. However, it is generally accepted in the solar salt industry
that microorganisms and their products in the evaporating ponds
can affect both the quantity and quality of salt that is eventually
produced. Many solar salt companies employ biologists to monitor
biological development and associated parameters in the saltern
ponds from the seawater inlets through the crystallizer ponds.
Some companies engage consulting microbiologists only when
problems occur in the ponds. The intent of this article is threefold:
to describe how solar salterns work; to describe the roles of
microorganisms in solar salterns; and to describe some of the
analytical methods for measuring biological and chemical
parameters that we have adapted to overcome problems of salt
interference.