Water Treatment Technologies

Innovations in water treatment allow companies to
use many different types of water in their production
activities. Common sources include surface water,
groundwater and municipal water of varying qualities.
In addition, companies are diligent about capturing
water produced during the exploration and production
process, and new water technologies and sophisticated
fracturing chemistries help companies make use of this
water more frequently as well.

Between 2010 and 2015 in Pennsylvania alone,
wastewater reuse increased from 2.6 to over 22 million
bbl/yr. Since 2010, Pennsylvania’s wastewater recycling
increased from 4.6 to over 7.8 million bbl/yr. According
to the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and
Research, during the first half of 2013 in the Marcellus
shale play, 90 percent of the more than 14 million barrels
of produced fluids from fracturing was reused.12 That
represents a significant savings in the amount of new
water needed for hydraulic fracturing elsewhere, and
illustrates the industry’s focus on environmental issues
and efforts to reduce the impacts of energy development
on resources and communities.