Water management: Necessity is the mother of invention

This week in Midland, Texas, the Produced Water Society (PWS) held their annual Permian Basin Conference and, as usual, the topics and discussion didn’t disappoint. One of the most covered topics was the desalination of produced water and the potential uses from discharge to beneficial reuse.

Mark Patton, Contributing Editor

Importance of this topic. First let’s get into why this topic is so important. The Permian basin is, by far, the largest producer of produced water, where volumes, on average, are four times greater than the oil and gas produced. In some areas of the Permian basin, this ratio is as high as 8-10:1. The vast majority of this water is disposed of in disposal and injection wells. Even though recycling of produced water as a completion fluid is a growing area, it will not likely exceed 40% of the total volume. It has limitations, as it is tied to drilling and completion activity that has an ebb and flow as oil and gas prices fluctuate.

Now, adding a level of complexity to this scenario is the arrival of induced seismicity. The disposal of produced water is implicated in causing earthquakes. The reaction to this is to close or limit disposal activity in these areas of seismic activity. This reduction in capacity creates a significant challenge for the management of produced water, but it has also led to innovation in the management of produced water. Necessity is the “Mother of Invention.”

New Mexico’s role. One of the leaders in the innovation around produced water management has been Mike Hightower and the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium (NMPWRC). They have completed many successful pilots around pre-treatment for desalination. They also have laid the groundwork for identifying everything in produced water and doing toxicity testing. Earlier this year, it looked like New Mexico was going to continue its leadership rule, when the governor announced that they would invest in creating new water sources and included produced water in these efforts, creating a market for treated produced water. Unfortunately, the governor didn’t have the support for this program, and produced water was eliminated from consideration. This continues to be a hotly debated topic in New Mexico.

Potential contaminants. The primary argument is the potential contaminants that may or may not exist. Produced water is primarily formation water from deep in the earth, saturated with salts and minerals. The additional additives used are well-known and primarily in the initial water when a well is started, called flowback water after that initial volume. Everything after that for years is basically formation water. But because produced water is a product of oil and gas operations, there is fear.

When compared to municipal water, there are an infinite number of possible contaminants, from industrial processes to pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs and many others. Yet, the treated municipal wastewater is, today, being used to recharge groundwater, ultimately making its way into our drinking water. And yes, there is rigorous testing involved before this is allowed. Groundwater recharge started by capturing all of the runoff from rain and attempting to collect this before it’s discharged into waterways and lost. This runoff is, however, not treated and also has a high potential for contamination from streets and sewers and illegal dumping.

Treated produced water. We know more about what’s in produced water than we do in runoff or treated municipal water. We need to focus on the finished product and not where the water came from. You can imagine what raw sewage mixed with industrial discharge looks like, but we focus on the finished, treated product that is discharged, not what it was before. We buy a cake because of the finished product, not because we are staring at a pile of eggs and flour.

Treated produced water can be as clean as treated municipal water, but, in my opinion, with far less risk. When my wife is looking at diamonds she’s interested in, and considers cut, clarity and count, she doesn’t say this thing was a lump of coal and has no value (I know diamonds don’t come from coal, but like John Belushi in “Animal House,” let me go, I’m on a roll). The discussion should be about what the final product can be, not where it came from. Produced water needs to be “unburdened by its past” (sorry couldn’t help myself).

Texas picks up the effort. Yes, I covered much of this before, but this was a reoccurring theme throughout the PWS conference. And where New Mexico has faltered, it looks like Texas has picked up the baton (sorry, had to throw in an Olympics analogy). Robert Crain with Texas Pacific Water Resources announced he is expecting a discharge permit late this year and a final permit in early 2025 for discharge into the Pecos River. This will be the first major treatment and desalination project with produced water in the Permian basin. I know there have been plenty of other smaller pilots and projects, but this is a permanent operation, not a short-term project. Mr. Carin also mentioned that there are other permits going through the process. We are beginning to see a pathway to beneficial reuse, with discharge being the first step.

Let’s dig deeper into the efforts of Texas Pacific Water Resources (TPWR). I would like to thank Robert Crain and Adrianne Lopez-Billings for sharing their insights. As is typical when evaluating technologies, TPWR started pilot programs to look at technology validation, power consumption, water quality, and post treatment uses, among other areas. TPWR partnered with universities and consortiums to share data and supplement the analytical and ecological portions of their testing. This provided a robust set of analysis from their internal testing, 3rd-party accredited labs and university partners. This data set is then used to apply for a RRC land application permit and a discharge or TPDES (Texas Pollution Discharge and Elimination System) permit for discharge into a tributary of the Pecos River.

TPWR/TPDES status. The TPDES permit is under technical review. TPWR has also shifted from pilot testing to scalability and has begun construction on larger scalable equipment, which will be relocated to Reeves County. They plan on continuing scaling this technology in phases, with an ultimate goal of getting to 100,000 bpd. This is truly an important milestone for produced water management, as these types of applications reduce the burden on our disposal wells and move towards beneficial reuse.

I have always said, as we move towards beneficial reuse, that we can begin looking for the opportunity to monetize water and/or form water markets. This changes the landscape for oil and gas as not just an energy producer but a producer of water. When that happens, it changes the entire narrative on the importance of the oil and gas industry. I’ll keep you posted, but things are getting exciting.