LEAPING HOOPS AND HURDLES – OVERCOMING REGULATORY, POLICY, AND PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS TO ACHIEVE BENEFICIAL USES WITH PRODUCED WATER

Jeri Sullivan Graham
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P.O. Box 1663, MS J964,Los Alamos, NM 87545 (505-667-2889) Email: ejs@lanl.gov

ABSTRACT:

I observe that the words “Produced Water” are very frequently used in the same sentence as “It’s
Complicated”. After many years of development in treatment technologies, improved handling and
transportation systems, better infrastructure investment in the oil field, and new drilling and completion
methodologies, we remain challenged in our ability to use this potential resource to its best purpose.
Recent years have seen changes in the regulatory framework surrounding produced water in many
states. These changes are intended to improve our ability to use produced water for multiple purposes,
and to prevent damage to our environment and physical property (induced seismicity). Policy frameworks
are adapting to the challenge of taking a vilified waste product and turning it into something valuable and
useful. And we remain challenged in our ability to affordably treat the water to remove salt and expand it’s
uses. Nonetheless, we have made tremendous progress in our understanding of the chemical properties
of produced water, the treatment methods that work the best, and how to manage large volumes on a
time-constrained basis in an industrial environment. I will look briefly at the history of treatment and uses,
some policy adaptations, and regulatory changes that are helping us better use a difficult, complicated,
but very worthwhile resource.

IPEC 2016 Presentation