Cost estimates for various methods of wastewater disposal and recycling vary, depending on both the reservoir in question, and the information source. A seven-well recycling and reuse program using electrocoagulation in Eddy County, New Mexico, substituted over 8 million gallons of produced water for fresh water, and saved $70,000-$100,000 per well in water management costs, according… Keep reading →
While various wastewater recycling technologies have the same ultimate goal – to give drillers a cost-effective means of reusing flowback and produced water – there is no clear consensus on how to achieve it. Some companies use chemicals, others use electrical pulses. Some see removal of solids as mandatory, some see it as costly and… Keep reading →
As the cost of recycling wastewater falls, it could emerge as the preferred method for addressing many of the water-related environmental concerns surrounding hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing generally requires vast amounts of fresh water. Estimates vary widely, but water used for a fracturing job ranges from 40,000 to 60,000 bbls in the Delaware Basin, according… Keep reading →
The ongoing debate over how and whether hydraulic fracturing poses a threat to the environment covers a whole host of issues – land use, earthquakes, drinking water contamination, methane emissions, and even the sustainability of fossil fuel use. While some issues remain mired in a lack of hard data or fundamental philosophical differences, companies… Keep reading →
