Sustainable, Chemical-Free Frack Fluid Is a Win for Both Oil and Gas Companies and the Environment

When it comes to hydraulic fracturing, the oil and gas industry has long been in a quandary. Hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – uses water and sand to release oil and natural gas deposits that traditional vertical drilling can’t extract. After the oil and gas is released and collected, the big question has been what to do with the water that comes out with the oil and gas. To frack, it requires as much as 650,000 barrels of water, or 27,000,000 gallons, per well that comes at the oil and gas companies’ expense. Their solution until now has been to deposit or inject nearly all flowback and produced water into saltwater disposal wells, sometimes at high pressures. It’s a process that’s both potentially affects local water supply and profitability.

It’s been too costly for oil and gas companies to pause fracking until they find an alternate solution so new incentives have been introduced to encourage the industry to find cleaner solutions. A publicly traded company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) score has become a linchpin of socially conscious investors to screen potential investments. Finding a way to improve a company’s sustainability without reducing its production, all while remaining financially viable, has never been more crucial.

PilotPure, Inc., a produced water remediation company in Texas, has that solution: sustainable recycling and remediation technologies for produced water reuse that are scalable and available to oil companies. PilotPure’s proprietary water recycling system optimizes the treatment and disposal of produced water, providing oil and gas companies reliable, remediated produced water without the need for adding chemicals. By minimizing water disposal and trucking of treatment chemicals, PilotPure saves companies money while providing a sustainable environmental solution. If this sounds like pie in the sky, it was, until recently. Now, the only thing standing in the way between oil and gas companies and environmentally sustainable hydraulic fracturing is the awareness to use PilotPure’s chemical-free recycled and remediated water for the frac fluid.

The Numerous Benefits of PilotPure, Inc.’s Water Treatment System

PilotPure’s team has over 75 years of combined experience in oil and gas operations worldwide and knows the industry inside and out. PilotPure’s team realizes the industry earnestly wants to operate sustainably, remain profitable and satisfy ESG metrics. PilotPure’s chemical free, sustainable water treatment system helps solve these obstacles and offers companies an opportunity to increase production yields. Here’s how.

Most water used in fracking is subsequently disposed by injection into saltwater disposal wells (SWD). This practice is costly, inefficient, and may contribute to increased seismic activity near the disposal wells. The largest majority of flowback and produced water is either recycled without being remediated or injected into SWD wells. PilotPure remediates 100% of recycled water while accelerating the removal of in-situ iron. Instead of injecting the wastewater into disposal wells, PilotPure takes the water, cleans it, and returns it to the oil and gas company for reuse. It’s PilotPure’s goal to vastly diminish the industry’s reliance on SWDs and recycle every single gallon of wastewater for reuse. Using PilotPure’s system allows the oil and gas producer to reuse produced water instead of having to purchase non-potable fresher water for fracks thus saving the fresh water for crop irrigation and other beneficial reuse.

This undoubtedly will save companies money, in more ways than one. Using remediated water costs about half as much as using fresh water. By eliminating the need for fresh water, you eliminate the costs of extracting and transporting it, too. But perhaps more consequential, PilotPure’s recycled water is a nearly homogeneous product, meaning their clean, remediated frac fluid is the same, every time. Oil and gas companies spend significant time, energy and effort fixing problems caused by using water with different mineral, PH, and chemical qualities. Fresh water can even contain bacteria which can be harmful to equipment and extracted oil and gas. Using PilotPure’s bacteria-free, nearly homogeneous frac fluid for every frac, helps to eliminate complications that arise from using fresh water.

How is PilotPure’s frac fluid able to be so clean without the use of chemicals? PilotPure’s proprietary system uses innovative ion transfer technology, rather than harsh chemicals. The byproduct of the ion transfer process is monochloramine and dichloramine, which can keep the water bacteria-free for up to three weeks, allowing it plenty of time to return to the well and be used again. No one else in the industry can offer this level of clean, sustainable frac fluid.

Ion transfer is not new. Sean Gustin, PilotPure, Inc.’s Executive Vice President, and Jonathan Warner, its Senior Vice President and CTO, used ion transfer technology in aquaculture farms in central Florida. A third-generation oilman, Gustin returned to Texas and, with the help of PilotPure’s team and Warner, applied the technology to help solve fracking’s water challenges. Now, PilotPure has the capacity to clean 230,000 barrels a day offering the oil and gas industry a completely scalable solution. Our footprint, says Gustin, requires less than 10,000 sq. ft. or about ¼ of an acre for this remediation system.

Convincing the prevailing culture of oil and gas companies – one that is often resistant to change – that using PilotPure’s frac fluid is both sustainable and profitable should only be a matter of awareness. PilotPure’s ability to save companies money while actively helping the environment is a powerful solution to fracking’s water problem. Companies that use PilotPure will help make our world more sustainable, without sacrificing profitability or the valuable energy production they provide.

“Scientific progress is a cumulative effort,” says PilotPure President and CEO, Michael Gustin. “The oil and gas industry always builds on the discoveries of its predecessors: a collaborative advancement that is unstoppable towards a greater and better way. PilotPure thanks all the Permian operators and explorationists for their combined risks. Without them, many challenges would never be solved to the benefit of all. We at PilotPure are proud we are already helping keep this great state of Texas clean for future generations.”

To find out more about how PilotPure can save your company money while also increasing production and profits, visit www.pilotpure.com today