Produced Water

US oil fields generate >25 billion barrels of produced water each year. Due to the generally poor quality of this water (i.e., high dissolved solids concentrations, numerous harmful inorganic, organic, and radioactive constituents), the majority is disposed of underground using more than 35,000 Saltwater Disposal (SWD) wells. Increasing negative environmental impacts, public concern, and regulatory scrutiny associated with trucking produced water to disposal locations (e.g., road safety, carbon emissions) and injecting into SWD wells (e.g., disposal zone overpressurization, induced seismicity, groundwater contamination) makes business as usual for produced water management unsustainable. Leveraging Aquality Solution’s Convection-Enhanced Evaporation (CEE) technology, customers can materially reduce produced water volumes at the point of production, decreasing the financial, environmental, and reputational cost of produced water trucking and injection underground.

The composition and concentration of dissolved constituents in produced water vary significantly within and between oil and gas producing basins. For reference, seawater has a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentration of 35,000 milligrams per liter.

The composition and concentration of dissolved constituents in produced water vary significantly within and between oil and gas producing basins. For reference, seawater has a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentration of 35,000 milligrams per liter.

The frequency and magnitude of earthquakes in the Permian Basin has grown dramatically over the last ten years, primarily the result of produced water disposal.

The location of major earthquakes in Texas aligns with areas of significant produced water disposal. Since late 2021, disposal has been restricted by State regulators within Seismic Response Areas (black-outlined areas).

Click HERE for more information about the impacts of produced water disposal