New technologies are allowing producers to recycle and reuse upwards of 85-90 percent of all water that returns to the surface during the completions process. In some cases, producers are recycling 100 percent of their flowback water.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the reuse of water in the hydraulic fracturing process and stated, “Fourteen percent of water used to frack a well in central Pennsylvania is now recycled, up from less than 1% two years ago, according to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which monitors water usage”. In other words, water reuse and recycling has reduced the volume of fresh water required to complete a well by 14 percent.
As time progresses, the hope is to use less and less fresh water during the process.
