Baron Edmond de Rothschild was an optimistic man. In the 1920s he bought
land in Palestine with an eye to the future. Besides the vineyards and agricultural
land that he bought in the area around Zikhron Yaakov, and the glass factory
in which he invested for production of bottles for the wine that would eventually
be produced, he also bought land by the sea for the purpose of salt mining.
The location and type of land were carefully thought out. He purchased clay-like
land close to the ancient port of Atlit so that the salt could be easily
transported across the seas, for an industry that would provide work
to the local people. The clay-like land is nonporous and therefore
the water is evaporated by the hot sun rather than being absorbed by the
earth. Since 1922 the mines have
been operational, and produce salt packaged with the familiar Atlit label.
Owned today by the Dankner
Group, the factory in Atlit is one of their three salt mines. In fact, salt
is mined from each of the three salt-water bodies in Israel: Mediterranean,
Red Sea in Eilat, and Dead Sea. Until ten years it was illegal to import
salt to Israel.
The day of our visit
was an ideal salt mining day,
explained our guide, Binyamin Meir. A constant wind and a hot sun hastened
the evaporation. Salt separates from water and sinks to the bottom when the
concentration of salt in the water is 25.5%. All seas, except the Dead Sea
(27%), have a uniform salt concentration of 3.6%.
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It is Binyamin's's job to
achieve the necessary 25.5% salinity at the Atlit salt ponds. He does this
by flooding the salt ponds to a depth of 15 cm -- the depth at which the
sun's rays can penetrate and evaporate the water.
The Eilat salt ponds produce 170,000 annual tons of salt, as contrasted
with the Atlit ponds which produce
12,000 annual tons. The season in Atlit starts on 1 April and ends on 20
September. In Eilat, however, the season is all year long. The difference
is due to the longer period of sunny days in Eilat, as well as less rain.
Rain, a blessing for agriculturalists, is a problem for miners of salt from
the sea. The rain water dilutes the salt ponds which then must be drained
to achieve the
desirable 15 cm depth necessary for salt mining.
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The red water into which
Ben plunged his hand and brought up large coarse granules of salt is high
in magnesium content, as well as a bacteria which protects the salt against
radiation. The top of the water has a crusty layer which, Ben explained,
needs
to be plowed each day so that the sun's rays can penetrate to the bottom
and allow evaporation.
In the factory, the sifters
separate the salt according to grain size. Each size is packaged for a different
use. It is the size of the grain that differentiates usage
whether that be table, koshering, or softening salt used in industry.
Photos: Michele Kaplan-Green
Text: Judith Isaacson
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