Potash evaporation ponds in the desert near Moab, Utah, USA

Potash evaporation ponds in the desert near Moab, Utah, USA

Potash evaporation ponds dot the landscape near Moab, a city in the US state of Utah. The water is dyed blue, which helps speed evaporation and is probably quite useful for spotting the work sites from afar. What is potash? It’s a group of potassium-based compounds that has been mined by humans for centuries. The potassium is water soluble, so an evaporation pond is an ideal way to extract the useful chemicals from the deposits in the soil.