Using Both Produced and Flowback Water

摘要

Each multizone fracturing operation requires up to 8 miliion gallons of water, depending on the number of stages. As these operations become more common, water availability is increasingly a challenge for operators, regulatory bodies, and environmental organizations. Fresh water is a finite resource, and water conservation is a major environmental issue in many areas of the world. If an adequate supply of fresh water is not available, water must be trucked in. Because fracturing sites are often very remote, transportation represents a significant logistical cost. After each job, the operator mast safely and compliantly dispose of flowback and/or produced water, thereby incurring additional logistical costs related to the trucking out and treatment of wastewater.