Wastewater FAQ
We believe exploration and producer companies in the oil, natural gas and coal industries are caught in a perfect storm. On the one hand, they are under pressure to increase production to meet growing U.S. and international demand. On the other hand, there is a growing shortage of fresh water. Exploration and production (E&P) activities require massive amounts of fresh water for operations; acquiring this fresh water is becoming more difficult and more costly. Disposal of the contaminated water generated during E&P operations is an even bigger problem. 18 billion barrels of produced and flowback water are generated annually. While much of this water can be injected back into the ground, 30% or more must be disposed or treated by alternative methods.
GeoPure HydroTechnologies engineers have developed technology to treat two of the largest sources of contaminated water for the hydrocarbon E&P industry: flowback and produced water. Flowback water is used to drill wells and improve efficiencies. It is freshwater or brine mixed with chemicals (polymers used as viscosifying agents). New technologies, such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking), are being utilized to tap unconventional oil and gas reserves. While fracking has opened up new areas for production, it has also become a very controversial environmental issue. According to the Texas Railroad Commission, fracking a single well requires anywhere from 1.3 to 3.8 million gallons of water. Compounding the problem further, most wells are fracked numerous times to improve yields. Hydraulic fracture techniques, along with additional advanced technologies, are significantly increasing the amount of contaminated flowback water that must be treated and/or disposed of. The company estimates that there are over 42 million gallons of flowback water generated annually in the United States.
Produced water comes to the surface from underground sources during drilling and production. The contamination types and levels varies per well site, containing various dissolved and suspended solids. For every barrel of oil or gas recovered, it is estimated that 7-9 barrels of wastewater are generated. Much of this water is injected back into the ground, but much needs to be recycled or disposed of. The company estimates that 5 billion barrels, or 210 billion gallons, of water must treated and disposed annually in the United States.
E&P companies are coming under significant political and regulatory scrutiny for traditional disposal methods, with concerns rising over environmental damage and public health. The costs of disposal, both in dollars and in terms of public image, are skyrocketing. As one oil and gas CEO told the company, the energy industry is on the brink of a national crisis.
At GeoPure HydroTechnologies, we believe the solution lies in wastewater recycling. Our technology is field tested, recycling both produced and flowback water with high efficiencies and low costs.
