Towards The Improvement of Salt Extraction At Lake Katwe

Abstract- The occurrence of Lake Katwe salt deposit in Western Uganda is well-known through the East African region. Production of salt from this saline lake has been practiced for decades following traditional methods however the quality and yield of the products are poor. There are also risks of burns as the workers get into direct contact with the brine. Detail assessment and evaluation of the mine has been done through field studies raw sample materials analysis. Results indicate that the raw brine from the lake is rich in sodium chloride potassium carbonates sulphate ions with traces of calcium magnesium and bicarbonate ions. This motivates the aspiration to properly extract salts from such a rich source. The lake brines contain impurities such as organic matter and suspended solids. With increasing demand for usage of sustainable technologies for salt extraction the present study calls for the improvement of salt extraction at Lake Katwe through optimizing the use of the current solar evaporation technique while integrating it with a mechanized chemical separation process. This would ensure better recovery and process efficiencies low costs and simple brine pre-treatment procedures.