Processing And Disposal Of Produced Water

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that plays a critical role in the demand and supply of energy in the United States. It is considered to be a clean burning transition fuel. Compared to coal and oil, natural gas combustion does not generate as much pollution and is therefore considered an ideal partner for renewable energy resources. Natural gas is extracted from shale formations underground that require horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – “hydrofracking” or “fracking”. This drilling and extraction method is currently considered a global widespread issue due to the rapid increase in the amount of new gas wells that threatens the quality of water around the source (Entriken, Evans-White, Johnson & Hagenbuch, 2011).

people are agents the process of drilling for the natural gases. However, …“A report in

Few issues have recently gotten as much attention as the energy extraction activities involving a controversial procedure called "fracking." As reports of drinking water becoming tainted with fracking fluid flood the news, both oil and gas companies as well as environmental groups are presenting competing "facts" about the effects of drilling on ground water.

“DEC 's own review identified dozens of potential significant adverse impacts of (fracking)” (Krisberg 18). There are some potential impacts in the fracking process, it will bring a lot of health risks to people. The major constituents of produced water are salt content, oil and grease, various inorganic and organic chemicals, and naturally occurring radioactive material. Salt content in produced water makes the freshwater to salt levels up higher than seawater. Oil and grease makes freshwater is getting oily. Various inorganic and organic chemicals are found naturally in the formation or are chemical additives used during drilling and operation of the well, such as benzene and methane. “Many of the fracking additives are toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic” (Howarth, Ingraffea 272). This quote tells us that why fracking is contaminating the drinking water. Benzene are one major concern. “The state of Texas reports benzene concentrations in air in the Barnett shale area that sometimes exceed acute toxicity standards” (Howarth, Ingraffea 273). It shows benzene makes drinking water is getting contaminated. “Methane contamination of drinking water reservoirs has been documented in fracking-rich areas of the US. Leading to dramatic videos of seemingly ignitable tap water” (Benusic, 238). This quote tells us that the drinking water is getting contaminated by Methane is proved already. Radioactive material in

These environmental and social harms develop because the oil and gas industries and the Native nations' governments externalize costs of environmental and social protections onto the public in order to reap the benefits of saved costs” all the harm to our water is real and only we the consumers can stop it..The U.S is a high user of fracking methods as it is the cheaper version to achieve natural gas . According to Shale gas and fracking: The Science Behind the Controversy, that number almost doubled to 510,000, by 2010. Each year about 13,000 new wells are drilled near safe drinking water and a study released in 2011 by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency that some drinking water that comes up from shallow wells near hydrofracking drilling sites in Pennsylvania had about 17 times as methane as those far away from drilling. Imagine the danger that this water can cause to people, one always thinks that natural water is good for use and that the government will not let companies contaminate our limited water

Hydraulic fracturing, or also known as fracking, is a technique that is used to recover oil and gases directing coming from rocks that we have lost. The process, which tends to be successful in recovering these resources, can be controversial against many citizens. Since fracking consists of water, sand, and other chemicals being injected into the deep rocks underground, the high pressure of drilling down into the earth with this mixture allows the gas to flow out. This technique is rather effective and useful for the industry; its results making it possible for businesses to use the sources we’ve wasted and used. However, what gets many people riling against the procedure is that fracking can also result in water contamination. Recognizing that water contamination is already a national issue that all governments have a desire to resolve, the population is skeptical towards why industries are allowing such method of regaining oils and gases to pollute their water.With the help of the several sources, it was made easier to come to a conclusion in agreeing or disagreeing if fracking should be used to release oil and gas or not.

Problem – Hydraulic Fracturing for natural gas contaminates ground and surface water as a result of chemical use while using millions of gallons of water in the process.

The nation is shifting towards electricity generated by natural gas- over the past ten years 81 percent of new electricity capacity has been gas fired- and state governments are playing regulatory catch-up with the drilling technology’s rapid expansion to meet this burgeoning demand”. (http://www.gracelinks.org/191/natural-gas-fracking-introduction) However; to meet this demand, gas and oil companies have ignored some rather important harmful effects of hydraulic fracturing. These harmful effects include; water droughts, increased pollution, the spread of toxins, and possible negative influence on local economies. Water droughts because of the fracking process are caused by using up to approximately one-hundred times more water than previous drilling methods. This means that gradually less and less of the world where drilling is active or was active will have the ability to attain non chemical induced water. The article, “List of Pros and Cons of Fracking” published by Occupy Theory states that, “Anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of fracking waste water flows back to the original drilling surface” (http://occupytheory.org/list-of-pros-and-cons-of-fracking/) Hydraulic fracturing causes pollution in several different aspects. Oil and gas companies are not required to provide a list of chemicals used in the process which causes those in the areas where drilling is present to not be able to adapt correctly to these toxins. According to research, a few of the chemicals that have been found present in fracking include; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. These three chemicals are known to the scientific community to cause harmful effects on the health of people. Also, the article, “Pros and Cons of Fracking: 5 Key Issues” explains that because of the dropping gas prices, drilling use will

Although oil companies uphold the idea that fracking is a cheaper and efficient, fracking damages the local water, air and soil in the surrounding cities. According to the Science of Total Environment, scientists speculate that wells require up to 5 million gallons of fluid per extraction event, which would require tons of chemicals including benzene, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides to unconventionally bring out the shale gas (Werner et al. 2014). The lengthy list of air pollutants, most of which are combustible, suggests that both human health and the environment are at risk and the surrounding water aquifers located near the horizontal wells could also be damaged. The amount of water needed for extraction also demonstrates the strain the process of fracking has on the environment and local water supply. Similarly, the potency of methane is 20 times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, which is further aggravated by the process of flaring (Weinhold 2012). Thus, flaring and fracking serves not only as a nuisance to the community through the health hazards and water pollution, but can worsen the status of global climate

In the United States, hydraulic fracturing, dubbed “Fracking”, has become more and more popular in recent years. The goal of fracking is drilling into the ground and extracting the oil and natural gas that lays beneath the earth. However, this has drawn a lot of controversy due to its negative impacts on the environment. One of the main concerns is during drilling, waste water that is produced can potentially go into nearby sources of drinking water. It has also been observed that earthquakes have happened near areas where fracking occurs. The opposition argues that the process does not lead to contamination because the drilling happens well below freshwater sources while the

In the process of fracking, problems can occur and there can be a possibility of water contamination. During fracking underground water supplies can be exposed to shale gas and contaminate the water or there could be a cement failures and infiltration from soil or even water transportation incidents (Beaver 127; Penning et al. 1156). This can happen very easily and can cause the water to get contaminated. In one case, “EPA found evidence of groundwater contamination with benzene, xylenes, gasoline range organics, diesel range organics, and total volatile hydrocarbons in shallow wells that lie above 169 gas-producing wells that were hydro fractured.”(Penning et al. 1156). Most of these chemicals found in the water are harmful to the body, can

Swarm, Frack F. "Fracking and Water Pollution." - SourceWatch. Fracking and Water Pollution, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.With the public worried about a lot of water being used in fracking, oil and gas drilling. Some of the companies have begun to reusing and recycling the usedwater. The natural-gas company uses many different ways of recycle drilling wastewater. Some of the drillers have used recycling equipment at the well site or has been shipped to a water recycling facility. When the water is received the used water is then filtered, evaporated, and then distilled. It will then be used again at the well. Other companies may add some fresh water to the used water, to dilute the salts and other contaminants,

The intent of this paper is to introduce the topic of hydraulic fracturing as a potential energy solution and reveal the correlation between the mechanics of the process and its associated hazardous chemicals. The focus will be on social, economic, and environmental impacts resulting from pollution. The use of hydraulic fracturing warrants major social, economic and environmental concerns relating to the impacts of fracking induced pollution of air and water resources by VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

Clean water supply is essential in establishing and maintaining a healthy community. There are two sources of water supply which are the surface water and ground water. Most natural waters are not suitable for consumption as it is contaminated by pathogens and also natural chemicals and minerals. In addition, as a city grew, wastes from human activities contaminate most of the water supplies. Water treatment plays an important role to properly treat a contaminated source of water supply in order to protect the health of consumers. Water treatment process is defined as a process of eliminating pollutants from untreated water to produce a biologically and chemically risk-free water, which is both potable and palatable for human consumption

The disposal of untreated wastewater coming from the industries into the water bodies will pollute the water bodies because of its high concentrations. So, the wastewater produced from the industry should be treated properly to meet the permissible limits given by central and state pollution control boards. Therefore it is necessary to treat the wastewater properly with the help of an appropriate treatment plant. However, the treatment plant even though properly planned may not work satisfactory because of several reasons. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the treatment plant considering individual treatment unit in the entire treatment flow. In the present work emphasis has been given to the study of the performance of treatment facilities because of its importance in the conventional treatment of wastewater. Hence, the literature review related to the evaluation of the entire treatment process along with biological treatment process particularly suspended growth process Activated Sludge Process (ASP), attached growth process Trickling Filter (TF) and a combination of the both suspended and attached growth process Hybrid Reactor (HR) is presented in the following sections of this chapter.