Gas Shale Hydro Fracturing Flowback
STW is actively pursuing opportunities in all the major shale formations in the United States. The Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, with the potential to be the largest and most productive natural gas field in the United States, is still in early stages of development. Presently there are about 400 producing wells, the majority being simple vertical wells, and over sixty new wells are being drilled each month. Most of the new wells being drilled are horizontal, requiring about 3.5 million gallons of water per well. Over the next ten years, STW estimates that over 12,000 wells will be completed producing gas volumes of 12 billion cubic feet annually, utilizing over 42 billion gallons of water, and generating over 400 million barrels (one barrel = 42 gallons) of water for disposal or reclamation. STW anticipates gaining a 15% market share of the total barrels processed. There are 28 producers in the Marcellus, with the four largest being Range Resources, Chesapeake Energy, Atlas Energy Resources and Seneca Resources.
For more information, please see our Contaminated Waste Water white paper.
Oil and Gas Produced water
In Texas, over 250 billion gallons of produced water are generated every year with almost 35% having high levels of total dissolved solids (“TDS”) making it unfit for use. Reclaiming even a portion of this would result in a vast new source of clean water supply. Other states with oil and gas production such as California may also find water reclamation technology attractive. In 2009, Occidental Petroleum announced the discovery of a new gas shale play in California, where, because of severe water restrictions, reclaiming water from steam and water floods would be an attractive frac water source.
For more information, please see our Contaminated Waste Water white paper.
Acid Mine Drainage
Another sensitive environmental issue in the Appalachian Mountain regions, AMD has impaired more than 4,600 miles of waterways in Pennsylvania alone. Drainage from old abandoned coal mines is acidic, and insoluble metal oxides precipitate when the drainage enters a river, lake or stream, damaging the marine ecosystem. The AMD discharging from a single mine or coal tailing pile can range from 10 to more than 10,000 gallons per minute. In just one example, the Lackawanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania is being contaminated from at least seven monitored AMD locations with estimated peak flow of 40 million gallons per day.
For more information, please see our Contaminated Waste Water white paper.
Desalination / Brackish Water
World-wide there are brackish water zones that contain large volumes of water. The water contains dissolved salts in the 0.5 to 2% (5,000 to 20,000 mg/l TDS) range and hence unfit for human use. This water can be treated to reduce the TDS below 500 mg/l or 0.05% TDS making it fit for human consumption. Factors such as decreasing supplies of fresh ground and surface water, increased competition for surface water resources, and changes in population/demand centers are driving the need for brackish water for water supply. STW’s customers are private companies and municipalities serving fast growing metropolitan areas where demand for water is outpacing the available supply.
For example, aquifers in the Texas Gulf Coast contain a large volume of brackish water (less than 10,000 ppm TDS) that, with desalinization, will help meet increasing demand in the region.
Source: Brackish Water Resources of the Gulf Coast Aquifers in Texas
Beach, James A., Kreitler, Charles W., and Klemt, William B.
LBG-Guyton Associates, Austin, TX
Other
- Coal bed methane production
- Industrial effluent
- Municipal wastewater