[2][3] According to anthropologist Norman Tindale, the name Bumbunga derives from the word parnpangka in the local Aboriginal language (Kaurna), meaning "rain water lake".

[4] The lake is situated in the Mid North of South Australia, approximately 125 km (78 mi)[5] (1.5 hours' drive) from the state capital city, Adelaide.

[8] The colour is due to a certain type of algae which tolerates its high salinity and produces pink pigment that helps it to take energy.

Salt was harvested from the lake bed in summer months from 1881; two years later, output was 6.1 to 8.1 tonnes (6 to 8 long tons) per day.

Mining provided employment and other economic benefits for many years; the town of Lochiel, on the west bank of the lake, is said to have "developed slowly with the industry, its survival in the 20th century being almost totally dependent on the salt harvesting".

[10][note 2] During World War II, when salt was need for munitions manufacture, employment rose from 30 to 100 workers, with three shifts a day, and two trains a week transported the product in bags.

[14] With harvesting becoming practicable using only front-end loaders and trucks, the maintenance and salt works buildings became redundant and were demolished in 2000.

[6] A fibreglass sculpture named the "Loch-Eel monster" (wordplay on Lochiel, the nearest town, whose namesake is a forest in northern Scotland[6]) is visible in the middle of the lake.