Recycling Waste Water
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
According to Dan O’Brien at the Business Journal, a company based in New Castle, PA, has developed technology that recycles waste water from fracking sites via solar energy.
The new technology has attracted the attention of Consol Energy, a coal producer turned shale gas giant.
The energy company invested $500,000 to integrate the technology into its production methods.
Here’s a little bit about the technology:
The closed-loop system would be able to clean 100 to 100,000 gallons of water per day, and would dramatically reduce costs for energy companies such as Consol that would normally transport that water to deep injection wells, Joseph said. It also could reduce by 90% the volume of toxins marked for offsite storage, alleviating many environmental concerns.
There’s only two ways waste water can be handled after production: recycling or pumping it thousands of feet into the earth. The latter method has been linked to the New Year’s earthquakes in the Youngstown area.
» Via: The Business Journal › Consol, New Castle Firm Join on Recycling Venture
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.