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Fresh Vs. Recycled: Water Not Meant For Drinking Doesn't Have To Be Dumped

If you manage an oilfield, you know that bringing in fresh water is one of your more expensive costs. You need fresh water for drinking, cooking, washing clothing (at least for the rinse cycle), and so on, but do you need fresh water for use in the drilling process? Turns out, recycling water is becoming more common, and this is something you should consider in your fields. However, you do have to consider some issues before making your final decision about whether to start using recycled water. Here's a look at whether using recycled water in your fields is a good idea.

Supplies

Supply-wise, using recycled water is an excellent idea. Fresh water supplies are, in general, under stress from increasing droughts and an increasing population. Using fresh, drinkable water for an oilfield drilling and extraction process means there's less drinkable water for humans and animals. The amount of non-drinkable water produced by oilfield processes is growing, too. Since facilities for cleaning and recycling water are getting better, using recycled water for in-field work is best.

Cost

In general, the process of recycling water might not be cheaper for you than trucking fresh water in because you're still transporting water to your field, and you have to pay for the process of recycling the water. But if fresh water supplies become tight due to another drought, recycling can turn out to be cheaper.

Storage -- and Weather

You have to store the water you get, and if you start buying recycled water, you'll need separate storage facilities for the recycled and fresh supplies. If you can quickly convert some of the fresh water storage into recycled storage, that's not going to be a big problem for you. But if you are using all your fresh water storage spots and need to install more storage, you'll have to take that cost into account. You also have to be aware of what the weather can do in your area. If you live in a seismically active zone or in an area that can get tornadoes, those can cause storage facilities to crack and leak. That means you could have recycled water leaking out over everything, which is a concern if the recycled water is still deemed unsafe for human use.

If you have more questions about fresh vs. recycled water, contact water haulers that service drilling areas like KWI to find out what they're charging and what they've seen that works.


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