Tight Oil Water 

Congress

October 29, 2012
Forward Looking Statement

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How Operators Are Implementing Comprehensive Water 

Management Systems From Transport To Treatment To ReH

Use To Save Millions On Well Costs 

3⁄4 Water Uses & Sources 

3⁄4 Technologies for Water treatment/ reHcycling

3⁄4 Exploring how operators can recycle and reuse flowHback and 

produced water a second or third time to costHeffectively manage 

large volumes of water 

3⁄4 Understanding how operators have integrated transport and storage 

systems into their recycling program to reduce the overall costs of 

water management

3⁄4 The challenge going forward

Agenda
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Water UsesH Reminder

WWW.COGA.ORG

Water Use vs. Energy Use

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domestic water use.

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7KHDYHUDJHQDWXUDOJDVSRZHUSODQWFRQVXPHVJDOORQVRIZDWHUSHUPHJDZDWWhour 

and requires 7.28 thousand cubic feet of gas to provide one megawatt hour in an average 

Colorado combined cycle natural gas plant.

7KXVWKHDYHUDJHKRPHFRQVXPHVJDOORQV% yearly use) and 60 thousand cubic 

feet of natural gas for electricity use per year.

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Table 1: Colorado Water Use (2005)

 Million gallons/Day Billion gallons/Year

Irrigation (crop) 12,321.85 4497.5

Irrigation (golf course) 40.64 14.8

PublicOsupply 864.17 315.4

Domestic 34.43 12.6

Industrial 142.44 52

Livestock 33.06 12

Mining 21.42 7.8

ThermoOelectric 123.21 45

Total withdrawals 13,581.22 4957.1

Source: USGS 2005 Estimated Withdrawals and Use of Water in Colorado, 2005
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Water SourcesHColorado 

The water used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing can come from a variety of 

places. It may be:

3⁄4 Purchased or leased from municipal supplies.

3⁄4 Transferred as water rights, such as agriculture water rights.

3⁄4 Fully consumable water,

3⁄4 Leased or purchased effluent.

3⁄4 Denver Basin non-tributary groundwater.

3⁄4 Produced water (non-tributary).

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under Colorado water law.

At an estimated maximum build out for Colorado wells for 2012, oil and gas 

development would only use 0.13% of all RI&RORUDGR¶VZDWHUXVHWKDWLV

13/100 of 1 percent). Estimated 2012 water use:

3⁄4 1,500 Vertical/Directional wells x 1,000,000 gallons5

3⁄4 1,000 Horizontal wells x 5 million gallons6

3⁄4 Total 2012 gallons: 6,500,000,000

3⁄4 6,500,000,000 ÷ 4,957,000,000,000 = 0.13%

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maximizing our recycling. We are investing in these efforts across the state.

WWW.COGA.ORG
Water Treatment Technologies

 TSS (Total Suspended Solids) /Selected TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) Removal

± Different processes to remove TSS and some TDS.

± Does not remove Salt

± ElectroOCoagulation, NanoOfiltration or Clarifier

 Reverse Osmosis (RO) or Forward Osmosis (FO)

± Mobile treatment for most TDS and Salt Removal

± RO Limited by TDS Level of 50,000 ppm inlet water

 Mechanical Vapor Recompression (Evaporator)

± Recovers very fresh water

± Typically Less Mobile than RO System

Increasing removal and increasing costs

$2/BW

$20/BW
Clean Brine Option

 Vendor: Trial 1

 Technology: Electrocoagulation

 Goal: Removal of Suspended Solids, Heavy Metals, Hydrocarbons, plus 

some scaling agents and bacteria

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Desalinization Option

 Vendor: Baker Hughes Water Management

 Technology: Evaporation

 Goal: Desalinized, fresh water (<300ppm TDS)

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Water Recycling Initiatives

 Evaluate economic feasibility to implement long term 

recycling projects in each asset area

 Develop various recycling projects, one in each asset 

area with ongoing frac completions.

± Target to recycle 2,000 to 4,000 BWPD per project

± Goal: Added water treatment costs will be offset by 

savings in water sourcing, transportation and disposal.

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ReHCycling Projects

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3⁄4 Single entity owned and operated

3⁄4 Full reHcycling capacity

3⁄4 Managed transportation

Wyoming

Texas

Colorado
Challenges of Produced Water Recycling

1. Determine criteria for frac water quality

2. Water treatment cost: $1 H $10/BW

3. Need permit to store produced water in a pit

4. Testing water wells near storage facilities (we should)

5. Need to minimize transportation logistics

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Benefits of Produced Water Recycling

1. Reduces demand for groundwater

2. Reduces need to dispose of produced water

3. Potential to decrease transportation cost

4. Influence the public debate during a drought

5. Influence legislative change

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Throughout the energy sector, there are opportunities to coHproduce energy and water. 

Locating power plants adjacent to water treatment facilities or more brackish or 

produced water resources could at least partially displace freshwater needs. In 

addition, waste heat from power plants can be used in some desalination cycles, and 

biogas from wastewater treatment plants can be used to generate power. Within the 

energy sector, the need to provide heat for reHgasification of liquefied natural gas fits 

well with the need to provide cooling for power plants.

The Cycle of Energy/Water 

OVERVIEW OF ENERGYHWATER INTERDEPENDENCIES AND

THE EMERGING ENERGY DEMANDS ON WATER RESOURCES

Ron Pate, Mike Hightower, Chris Cameron, and Wayne Einfeld

Sandia National Laboratories2

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Analysis of trends of increasing water demand for energy reveal several interesting issues:

 Current directions in energy development and energy production could significantly increase water 

consumption through 2035, making energy the sector with the largest nonHagricultural water 

consumption,

 Additions of fresh water resources are somewhat limited and water reclamation and water reuse could 

become the major new source of future water supplies,

 If the growth in water reclamation continues, overall national water availability could be sufficient to 

support water demand growth, though regional shortages are likely to occur, especially through 2015,

 Energy sector processes for cooling, scrubbing, refining, etc. will need to become compatible and costH

effective for use with reclaimed or nontraditional waters,

 Through 2015, water supplies development will be under significant pressure to keep pace to meet 

emerging water demands,

 The siting priorities of energy facilities may change to use large reclaimed water sources in urban 

areas, and

 Energy planning will become increasingly dependent on interactions regional water, waste water, and 

agricultural water managers and planners because regional energy and water concerns may become 

common.
Expectations

 What an operator can do legally in states varies

 We have to be adaptable with changing technologies

 The Industry must share advanced technologies in water use to reduce 

fresh water needs, and drive down the overall cost

 There are a lot of stakeholders watching what and how we manage 

ourselves, we should have the highest level of expectation as an 

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 We have to start thinking with other energy users of how to 

really build out infrastructures that leverages water, energy and 

commercial needs of the communities

± Ex.O while we build out pipelines and/or transmission systems, 

we should think about what other energy partners could use 

the rightOaOZD\VVRWKDWZHDUHEXLOGLQJD ́VPDUWμV\VWHPLH

water pipelines to leverage nonOpotable/ produced water for 

industrial needs

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The Future

EIAH2011 report 15
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The Future
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The Cycle of Energy/Water 

Agriculture

Human Consumption

Manufacturing

Population Growth

Energy

Water

Population Growth

Energy Demand Growth

Equals More Water/ 

therefore more Energy will 

be needed!
Requirements into the Future

 Due to the US having the capacity to increase its energy 

needs internally versus imports, our cost per unit will go 

down.

 This will help in improving our cost structure for water 

demand, sourcing water, and cycling water.

 We have to learn to use nonHpotable water blends for 

only our needs but where ever any industrial needs can 

be meet

 We have to learn where we can leverage our uses/needs 

for water with our own.

 How about all the wells we will plug, where surface csg

exist with good cement, that could create access to non8

potable water resources for other industries???

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