Managing Produced Water

For over 20 years, GTI has worked with academia, government, and industry to develop solutions for the conditioning of produced waters to enable environmentally sound and cost effective management, by-product recovery, and beneficial use or reuse of produced water streams.

GTI has led Water Conservation and Management Committees in the Barnett and Appalachian shales, exploring water management methods and technologies that will reduce demands for freshwater, reduce environmental impact of brine disposal, and ensure supplies of water for well drilling and completion for natural gas development.

Opportunities for reducing water-related costs of permitting for shale gas development for the Marcellus Shale Coalition were identified. An information base on the composition of flowback water generated from completions of shale gas wells in the Marcellus Shale region was developed. Samples of supply and flowback water from 19 locations were collected and analyzed for over 300 constituents in accordance with a purposefully-designed integrated plan that was reviewed by industry and the Departments of Environmental Protection of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. GTI has also been elected to lead the MSC Research Collaborative Committee along with CONSOL Energy.

GTI has also performed research in the New Albany Shale, and assessed water management and reuse technologies for RPSEA. Currently, researchers are utilizing water-based life cycle modeling to provide timely planning and technology guidance for sustainable shale gas water and solid waste management.

In 2011, a techno-economic assessment of water management solutions was completed, a joint industry project with 22 companies. The study defined current water management practices, emerging solutions, and benchmark costs; categorized best-in-class options; and identified technology gaps and opportunities for cost reductions and efficiency improvements.​