Hydraulic Fracking and our Water Resources, What are the Consequences?

What are the consequences of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on our well water sources?  The debate will continue for many years but the facts show that hydraulic fracturing can have dangerous consequences on our well water supplies. 

 

When a water well is drilled for residential use the well may be anywhere from 60ft in depth to several hundred feet in depth, it all depends upon the water table in the area. Commonly the water from a residential well is drawn from a small pocket of water that is re-hydrated through cracks and fissures in the earth as water percolates down through the layers of earth and rock strata. Occasionally residential wells may actually tap into an extensive aquifer with a vast supply of water. The quality of water from every well can vary greatly from one well to the next, even where water wells may be a minimum 60ft apart.

Hydraulic Fracturing for purposes of releasing natural gas is typically done at depths far greater than any residential water well is drilled.  Fracturing wells can be several thousand feet in the ground and past the water tables used for residential use.  Hydraulic Fracking typically incorporates water as the main source to inject in the wells to initiate the “Fracturing” process and release natural gas deposits inside the shale rock. The issues with this process are several fold.

1.   It can take several “MILLION” gallons of water injected into the shale rock deposits to achieve the results expected. 

2. Water is mixed with sand and chemicals and injected at high pressure into the shale rock to create the fracturing of the shale and release natural gas to be recovered.

3.   Where is the water being used for fracking being drawn from?  Water is brought in from offsite and on-site. Frequently it is waste water that has been re-captured during the fracking process. That water gets treated to help remove impurities and repurposed for injection. 

4. There have been many instances where water drawn onsite for fracking purposes has drawn the water table down to a point where residential wells have been affected. 

5.   The “Fracturing” process itself can release many unwanted gases such as methane gas.  Methane gas then travels up through the rock strata and can contaminate the water table residential water wells are drilled in.  Turning your kitchen faucet on and being able to light the water on fire is obviously very serious and potentially dangerous. 

6. The potential for well contamination depends on the vicinity of the hydraulic fracturing to the residential wells.  The possibility of the release of unwanted gases from the fracking process and contamination of residential water supplies depends on many factors including the age, condition, installation, depth and source of the residential water well.  All wells are sealed around the drop pipe to prevent migration of outside sources into the water supply, but the “fracking” process can potentially cause damage to an improperly installed well casing or well that has a casing that has been compromised allowing migration of outside material into the well. Even if the residential water well itself has a casing that has not been compromised there is still the potential for gases and byproducts released by the fracking process to enter the water supply at the water source.

7. Currently there are 500,000 active gas wells in the US. Each well has the potential to be “Fracked” as many as 18 times.  Each fracking process can use up to 8 million gallons of water. That adds up to the potential use of 72 Trillion gallons of water usage for the currents wells and billions of gallons of chemicals injected also.

Water is our most precious and important resource and needs to be protected.

Every drop of water on earth has been here since the beginning of time. It is NOT a renewable resource. We have what we have and only 1% of it is available to us as fresh water. So we need to protect it, appreciate it and not take it for granted. 

Recently there has been an application for drilling a gas well in Brighton, MI that will incorporate this fracking process. Hence our discussion has begun. I for one hope it is not allowed, particularly since it will be so close to a residential area.

These are only my opinions from personal experience, observations and opinions formed from reading numerous articles pro and con on the hydraulic fracturing process for natural gas. 

Here is a link to the Michigan DEQ regarding well water changing during Oil and Gas Exploration: 
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/Hydraulic_Fracturing_brochure_GWP
C_399757_7.pdf

WQA.ORG Fracking and our water resources:
http://www.wqa.org/Portals/0/Technical/Technical%20Fact%20Sheets/2014_Fracking.pdf

Good days and Good water to you!

Ray McConnell

Certified Water Treatment Specialist