Assault on Salt

Gavin Privett and John Ross of Pyramid Salt Company are turning the problem of saline ground water into a profitable salt producing industry and reclaiming farmland in the surrounding area. This company, located near Pyramid Hill on the Loddon Plains in northern Victoria, is in the early stages of production.

Decades of irrigation in northern Victoria has left farmland in the Loddon Plains degraded, saline and with high water tables. Ground water from the property is as salty as seawater. Pyramid Salt Company is transforming this saline land into a source of high quality salt. One million litres of bore water is pumped each day into a series of thirteen solar evaporation ponds. As the water travels through the series of ponds it becomes progressively more salty until it crystallises out in the final ponds. This salt is then harvested, purified, dried, sifted and bagged.

Pyramid Salt Company has the ability to produce salt of different levels of purity which can be used in food, pet food industry and in manufacturing. Ultra pure salt, which is currently imported into Australia, is also produced at Pyramid Salt Company. Gavin Privett estimates that when the company is in full production it will produce 5,000 tonnes of salt each year. A profitable sideline for the company is the production of brine shrimp which are grown in heated tanks and harvested for sale to the aquarium industry and fish farms.

In the process of pumping ground water the company is dramatically improving the surrounding farmland. Pumping ground water has the beneficial effect of lowering the water table. As the water table is lowered surface salt is leached out of the ground, making the land less saline. Degraded, unproductive farmland is becoming productive again. Gavin Privett estimates that 15 hectares of evaporation ponds will benefit approximately 750 hectares of land. The company is investigating the possibilities for expansion and for placing bores for salt production in other parts of the district.

Next Case Study

Gavin Privett pumps 1 million litres of saline ground water each day into evaporation ponds at Pyramid Salt Company

Gavin Privett and John Ross, owners of Pyramid Salt Company

Pyramid Salt Company is creating high quality salt by evaporating saline ground water

Pyramid Salt Company is growing brine shrimp for sale to fish farms and pet food suppliers

Pumping saline ground water at Pyramid Salt has made the surrounding farmland less salty and more productive