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Hydraulic Fracturing Assessing Key Unconventional Shale Wastewater Trends An d Opportunities The shale-gas boom could make water the most important commodity product of the 21st century. wateronline.com ■ Water Online The Magazine 26 T he dynamics of the unconventional shale wastewater treatment market has provided a huge business opportunity for existing and emerging water solutions providers. The emergence of companies offering water management and treatment services in the shale market has created some confusion as to what is the best form of dealing with the wastewater. The industry has, at present, four main options: 1. Treat the flowback to levels for reuse in fracking 2. Deep-well injection disposal 3. Reuse for fracking without treatment, which causes the wells to block over time 4. Treat flowback to potable level standards The varying degrees of competitors in the market are able to provide different services and treatment options. For the operator, it boils down to which one is the most applicable and cost-effective solution for its given location. The industry is asking, "Will a mainstream technology ever be utilized?" The answer for now is no — and various types of technologies will be used. Total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), and sulfur-reducing bacteria (SRB) are the main contaminants that need to be addressed for wastewater recycle and reuse in fracking operations. The industry is heading toward the use of multifunctional systems that are skid-mounted or on mobile trailer systems. This helps address key industry challenges for space and lower energy consumption and is more cost-effective than using different systems for different contaminants. This is likely to be a critical game-changer for the evolution of wastewater treatment into other industrial markets by leveraging the synergies of efficient treatments and addressing similar industry challenges. Some critics may argue that due to the significant variance in wastewater quality found in the different shale plays, many of the systems would not be economical to use. Addressing Contamination For all of the innovation and new systems being devel- oped in the market, the shale industry is not without its own challenges for its high water consumption and environmental footprint. Over the years, we have seen the challenges associated with groundwater contamina- tion and the harm hydraulic fracturing does to the water table. It is a known problem commonly raised by envi- ronmentalists without fully understanding the dynamics of hydraulic fracturing and the impact on water. The water table is significantly higher in depth than where the fissures are drilled. The water contamination likely occurs from surface spillages from flowback water in the immediate stage of drilling and from produced water over time, which seeps into cracks in the ground. The drilling company is responsible for making sure the drill casings are properly sealed and there are no potential water leakages. The probability of water contamination from methane gas or from the fracking process is extremely small due to the large differences in depths between the water table and the fissures in the ground. There are far more pressing challenges associated with using daily machinery and power generators that cause air pollution or consume energy, rather than the process of hydraulic fracturing. This disconnect in the industry is portrayed by environmentalists without the real understanding of what the underlying challenge is in the industry. Water Recycling The value of freshwater has grown exponentially across all industries, but most critically in the oil and gas industry. The global impact the oil and gas industry has on domestic and foreign supply and demand for energy resources — and the importance of oil for the manufacturing industry — is becom- ing more critical postrecession. However, the issue starts at water availability for drilling operations, which has impacted big markets such as China. The importance of water manage- By Ankur Jajoo 2 6 _ V E R T _ 0 2 1 4 E Z i n e _ F r o s t - S u l l i v a n _ D G . i n d d 1 26_VERT_0214 EZine_Frost-Sullivan_DG.indd 1 1 / 3 1 / 2 0 1 4 1 : 1 4 : 2 4 P M 1/31/2014 1:14:24 PM