Or vary the spacing between the electrodes or the depth that they're immesed in the brine. Seriosuly, such things have been used, and while they're better on AC than DC (due to electrolytic effects), they can be used as PSU dummy loads. But solid resistors (be they commercial wirewound ones, lengths of resistance wirte taken from old electric heaters, or filament bulbs) are a lot easier to handle. -tony