The desalination plant currently being planned by the ACT Government is being criticised by the Opposition as being expensive and environmentally problematic.
The proposed plant would dispose of the salt by-product by dumping it into the Murrumbidgee River, which is already subject to an estimated 40t of salt being pumped into it through the Lower Molonglo sewerage treatment works every day.
The Federal Government has given the state government $85m to counter this problem.
One way of disposing of the extra salt is to use it in the industrial manufacture of steel. Taiwanese steel manufacturers in particular seem to be in need of salt.
In manufacturing steel, the metal is hardened or tempered by various means. One process involves quenching the steel in a bath of salt maintained at a constant temperature to set the structure and prevent cracking.