Study Shows How to Stem Fracking Water Use
More Advanced Recycling Rather Than Disposal of Water Produced by Hydraulic Fracturing Could Calm Fears of Accidental Spillage, According to Rice University Scientists
The study, which appears in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, includes a detailed analysis of produced water of three gas reservoirs and suggests environmentally friendly remedies are needed to treat and reuse it.
The amount of water used by Texas drillers for fracking may only be 1.5 percent of that used by farming and municipalities, but it still amounts to as much as 5.6 million gallons a year for the Texas portion of the Haynesville formation and 2.8 million gallons for Eagle Ford.
Rice chemist Andrew Barron, who led the study, says shale gas wells produce most of their water within the first few weeks of production. After that, a few barrels a day are commonly produced.