Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of forming a precipitate, comprising: (a) providing a salt solution; (b) performing electrochemical reactions in the salt solution to produce a solution of lower pH and a solution of higher pH; (c) providing a silicate-containing material containing Mg2+ and/or Ca2+ ions; (d) treating the silicate-containing material with the solution of lower pH to dissolve at least a portion of the silicate-containing material and generate a second solution with higher pH; (e) combining the solution generated in (d) with at least a portion of the solution with higher pH generated in (b) to form the precipitate and a second salt solution; and (f) recycling the second salt solution generated in step (e) by adding (b).