WATER , WATER , EVERYWHERE ! to Californian state regulations for re-injection . For agricultural use however , additional treatment is required : typically reverse osmosis , ion exchange , or a combination of the two . Ultrafiltration can also remove enough particulate to get the level of total suspended solids to an acceptable limit . In some cases with high levels of dissolved solids , evaporation may also be needed .
ProSep has provided preliminary front-end engineering and design concepts for several California reuse applications , many of which require the oil and solids to be removed – followed by specific contaminant removal treatment – in order to achieve the standards required for agricultural use . The design and operation of these systems is fairly simple and inexpensive .
In another application , however , the total dissolved solids levels were elevated to a point where the water had to be evaporated and condensed to meet the required standards after removing the oil and solid contaminants . This particular case required additional treatment to remove heavy metals and potentially toxic contaminant ; the resultant solution is naturally more complex and costly to operate and maintain .
Due to the large volumes of produced water generated by E & P operations , there exists a readily available source of water to alleviate some of California ’ s water woes . But as illustrated in the examples above , additional treatment and monitoring will be required : In some cases , this is easily achieved yet in other applications , considerable expertise and resources are required to achieve a usable product .
These primary and secondary separation treatment technologies are already widely applied in the oil and gas , and other industries . They can be customized and packaged to provide a complete solution for each operating field . Additional tertiary treatment technologies can be incorporated to meet nearzero discharge limits as needed .
It is not often that the oil and gas sector gets the chance to present itself as an environmental steward . But as California ’ s agriculture sector is starting to consider the possibilities offered by this previously unused water source , the opportunity is there to be seized .
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