Background to this post is here. I boldfaced for emphasis in UTA Clear’s publication and share with you that of most concern is “Lastly, these data identified a number of unique
organophilic bacteria that exhibited resilience to traditional disinfection
modalities. This phenomenon has recently been documented in chlorinated
groundwater (Martin et al., 2018), albeit the precise mechanism
and physiology for this survival under disinfection conditions remains
to be determined.”
Volume 634, 1 September 2018, Pages 1519–1529
Characterizing variable biogeochemical changes during the treatment of produced oilfield waste
Abstract reads as follows:
“At the forefront of the discussions about climate change and energy independence has been the process of hydraulic fracturing, which utilizes large amounts of water, proppants, and chemical additives to stimulate sequestered hydrocarbons from impermeable subsurface strata. This process also produces large amounts of heterogeneous flowback and formation waters, the subsurface disposal of which has most recently been linked to the induction of anthropogenic earthquakes. As such, the management of these waste streams has provided a newfound impetus to explore recycling alternatives to reduce the reliance on subsurface disposal and fresh water resources. However, the biogeochemical characteristics of produced oilfield waste render its recycling and reutilization for production well stimulation a substantial challenge. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of produced waste from the Eagle Ford shale region before, during, and after treatment through adjustable separation, flocculation, and disinfection technologies. The collection of bulk measurements revealed significant reductions in suspended and dissolved constituents that could otherwise preclude untreated produced water from being utilized for production well stimulation. Additionally, a significant step-wise reduction in pertinent scaling and well-fouling elements was observed, in conjunction with notable fluctuations in the microbiomes of highly variable produced waters. Collectively, these data provide insight into the efficacies of available water treatment modalities within the shale energy sector, which is currently challenged with improving the environmental stewardship of produced water management.”
Collectively, these findings are the result of a unique collaboration
between scientists and engineers in an effort to comprehensively assess
the reusability of produced oilfield waste from UD, for the sake of environmental
stewardship. Shale energy extraction is a thirsty, multifaceted
process that is heavily reliant on consistent, and ideally
predictable chemistry, whereby a complete understanding of PW biogeochemistry
is required prior to it being considered a viable resource
for production well stimulation. As such, the exhaustive nature of the
measurements presented here, to assess the treatment of highly variable
industrial waste, clearly indicates that multiple treatment technologies
are required in order to remove pertinent organic, inorganic, and
biological contaminants below their respective reuse thresholds. The
organic fraction of PW (produced water) appears to be the easiest to remove, with a significant reduction in TOC and nearly complete elimination of prominent
hydrocarbons and VOCs being accomplished by ozone-induced flocculation,
particulate filtration, and passage through a primary carbon medium.
However, the persistence of several multivalent metal ions
throughout the different treatment modalities indicates that their removal
may require ionically-rich PWs be treated with a range of clay
matrices, which demonstrate high cation exchange capacities. In particular,
the retention of elevated levels of boron and iron indicate that additional
treatment modalities, beyond the scope of those evaluated in
this study, are required for complete removal of these potentially disruptive
ions. Lastly, these data identified a number of unique
organophilic bacteria that exhibited resilience to traditional disinfection
modalities. This phenomenon has recently been documented in chlorinated
groundwater (Martin et al., 2018), albeit the precise mechanism
and physiology for this survival under disinfection conditions remains
to be determined.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.388.”
From: Zacariah Hildenbrand <zac@informenv.com>
To: kim feil <kimfeil@sbcglobal.net>
Cc: “Schug, Kevin A” <kschug@uta.edu>; Aaron Hoff <hoffa@trinityra.org>; Angela Kilpatrick <kilpatricka@trinityra.org>; Jim Parajon <jim.parajon@arlingtontx.gov>; Trey Yelverton <trey.yelverton@arlingtontx.gov>; Victoria Myers <victoria.farrar-myers@arlingtontx.gov>; Jeff Williams <jeff.williams@arlingtontx.gov>; Ph.D. Avner Vengosh <vengosh@duke.edu>; Buzz Pishkur <buzz.pishkur@arlingtontx.gov>; Jay Warren <jay.warren@arlingtontx.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 11:37 AM
Subject: Re: Frack Water recycling and unintended worsened byproducts?
Zacariah Hildenbrand, Ph.D.
Inform Environmental, LLC
From: kim feil <kimfeil@sbcglobal.net>
To: “Schug, Kevin A” <kschug@uta.edu>
Cc: Aaron Hoff <hoffa@trinityra.org>; Angela Kilpatrick <kilpatricka@trinityra.org>; Jim Parajon <jim.parajon@arlingtontx.gov>; Trey Yelverton <trey.yelverton@arlingtontx.gov>; Victoria Myers <victoria.farrar-myers@arlingtontx.gov>; Jeff Williams <jeff.williams@arlingtontx.gov>; Ph.D. Avner Vengosh <vengosh@duke.edu>; Zacariah Hildenbrand <zac@informenv.com>; Buzz Pishkur <buzz.pishkur@arlingtontx.gov>; Jay Warren <jay.warren@arlingtontx.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: Frack Water recycling and unintended worsened byproducts?
From: “Schug, Kevin A” <kschug@uta.edu>
To: ‘kim feil’ <kimfeil@sbcglobal.net>; Ph.D. Avner Vengosh <vengosh@duke.edu>; Zacariah Hildenbrand <zac@informenv.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 12:53 PM
Subject: RE: Frack Water recycling and unintended worsened byproducts?
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 6:41 PM
To: Ph.D. Avner Vengosh <vengosh@duke.edu>; Zacariah Hildenbrand <zac@informenv.com>; Schug, Kevin A <kschug@uta.edu>
Subject: Frack Water recycling and unintended worsened byproducts?
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“Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection by products when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water”.
Last December in 2017 I sent our Arlington City Council information about UTA Clear’s research work in shale areas having a proliferation of microbes that were getting in to private water wells…https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2017/12/02/bacteria-in-barnett-shale-evolving-to-being-antibiotic-chlorine-resistant-oh-and-biocides-risk-failure-too/
Now that north Texans are hearing about Trihalomethanes, it is time to go history digging into each town’s water records and look at the upticks and see if all upticks are related to the timing of those towns embracing urban drilling….we need to parse out urban drilling if this is happening in non-urban drilling towns and chock it up to population explosion and the need for adequate water resources that don’t need heavy cleaning up (chloramination) in the first place.
WHO WILL UNDERTAKE THIS? Any UT Arlington graduate students need a thesis?
It would take open records of raw data so as to note important info lost in averaging methods.
does Arlington have municipal water?