Samson
Póg Mo Thóin
aren't we running out of fresh drinking water to water our crops and for us to drink?
are they using fresh drinking water when they begin this process?
and is there a way to turn it back in to drinkable water after it is processed?
is it still cost effective if everyone mining in this manner, secures and purifies the water after the process?
and can ALL the contaminated water be captured and none of it get in to our flowing underground drinking water?
In this country there is no real drinking water issue. The water used for fracking is minscule compared to the volume required for potable uses.
The layers you frack in typically are not water aquifiers, and if they were they would be "contaminated" by the natural gas that co-mingles with it.
In SOME places there is no water issue.
Regardless, water should be viewed as a resource: A typical frac might take 200K bbl water, about 25% of which will "flowback" once the well is de-pressurized.
What to do with 50K bbl flowback water? Three choices
1. Haul it off to a reprocessor
2. Dispose of it in a waste water well
3. Treat it at the site
4. Use it again (untreated)
Notice that "dumping it on the surface" is not a choice. If it was, you'd be seeing pictures of fetited pits. There is an EPA, and it does its job.