The Big Fracking Question: Is Drinking Water At Risk?

Understanding the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on source water, in both quantity and quality, is of vital importance to industry, the economy, and society. The latest research on the subject is presented, along with possible solutions to help overcome known and potential problems.

Fracking Disclosures Show Widespread Use Of Hazardous Chemicals

Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a process in which workers inject fluids underground under high pressure. The fluids fracture coal beds and shale rock, allowing the gas and oil trapped within the rock to rise to the surface. Advances in fracking launched a huge expansion of U.S. oil and gas production starting in the early 2000s but also triggered intense debate over its health and environmental impacts.

Drilling Fluid Producer Discovers The Coriolis Advantage

Drilling fluid is critical for successful oil extraction. Typically made up of water, clay and a complex mix of chemicals, it supports the drilling process in a variety of ways — from lubricating and cooling the drill bit under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, to lifting drill cuttings to the surface, to maintaining oil well stability and safety. But drilling fluid is not a “one size fits all” solution. To work properly, the fluid must be optimized for the unique geographic conditions of individual well sites.

Refinery Improves Boiler Air-To-Fuel Mixture Performance With Help From Multipoint Thermal Flow Meter

A major oil refinery’s plant team ran into challenging issues when they attempted to optimize their large primary boiler system, which initially perplexed the plant’s process engineers. After extensive study, it was determined there was a problem controlling the boiler’s burner air-to-fuel mixture ratio.

The Water-Energy Nexus

September 2020, water joined precious metals, oil and other commodity futures traded on Wall Street amid fears of scarcity. In October, Chart Industries, Inc., a global manufacturer of engineered equipment for the industrial gas and energy industries, announced its acquisition of the water cleantech company BlueInGreen, LLC., which Chart’s CEO and President, Jill Evanko, described as a ‘natural fit’.

MBBR-DAF System Provides The 'Perfect Solution' For Alchemist Brewery

Alchemist Brewery is a microbrewery specializing in brewing, packaging and distributing its award-winning IPA beer, Heady Topper. An unprecedented following of the signature ale drove the need for a larger brewery and retail sales center. The brewery operates with a profound respect for environmental responsibility, so with a new facility in the horizon, there was opportunity to explore wastewater treatment system options that would allow them to minimize their impact on the town’s wastewater infrastructure.

Fish Hatchery Chooses UV Treatment

Located on the Klamath River in Hornbrook, California, Iron Gate Hatchery is a salmon and steelhead hatchery that releases fish back to the Klamath River. Due to the presence of fungus and microorganisms, hatchery yield was thwarted due to disease.

Water Is Beer My water career started with beer. No, not the amount I drank on my way to my chemical engineering degree at Manhattan College. I mean the 10,000+ hours I spent optimizing filtration systems in breweries throughout the world.

Distillery Wastewater Byproducts Fuel Sustainability

For distilleries, high levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrogen, total dissolved solids (TDS), and total suspended solids (TSS) put extra pressure on optimal biological treatment requirements. Here are some techniques that can help distillers put a little extra money in the bank while meeting the challenges of environmental discharge requirements.

Fresh Air, Fresh Fish

Farming operations to plan and control fish reproduction have been around since the 15th century and are a sophisticated, mechanized arm in the food production industry today. In Poland, traditionally, trout farms are relatively small family businesses where product quality remains high during every stage of the process. Learn how Kaeser’s rotary blowers turned a rural fishpond into an automated aqua farm by delivering air to ensure the fish are raised in the best possible environment.

Automatic Self-Cleaning Scraper Strainers Filter Smallest Particles To Largest Debris

Unlike backwash systems, scraper strainers reliably resist clogging and fouling when faced with micron-sized particles, oversized solids, and high solids concentration.

Rounding Up The Water, Clean Energy, And Climate Bills In The 85th Texas Legislative Session

We’re entering the home stretch of the 85th Session of the Texas Legislature.

Inside The Technology: 3M Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors

While dissolved gas can give beverages distinctive flavors and fizz, it can also corrode boiler equipment and cause problems in microelectronics. With 3M’s advanced gas transfer membrane technology, you have the power to control dissolved gases with precision. Dive in to learn the ins and outs of 3M Liqui-Cel technology.

Protecting Power Station Performance With Gap-Free Conductivity Monitoring Data

For some instruments, downtime is necessary while service operations are undertaken. Swan Analytical Instruments has developed technology for power and industrial water/steam monitoring systems to enable uninterrupted operation.

EPA Providing Guidance For Drinking Water After Radiological Emergency

What would happen if there was an emergency in the U.S. that caused radioactive material to contaminate drinking water supplies? What steps could your utilities and government take?

Officials View Producer Efforts to Improve Quality Of Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay watershed, North America’s largest estuary, is huge. It includes parts of six states from New York to Virginia, the entire District of Columbia, and drains 64,000 square miles of land. The bay and surrounding area is home to a complex, intricate food web and a large population of wildlife. Various pollution sources cause stress on this system.

What Are Legionella Log Books And Why Are They Important? Implementing and managing a Legionella control regime can sometimes seem daunting and complex. Invariably, a lot of resources, time, and effort are needed to achieve the required standard and provide assurance to senior management and auditors that controls are effective and those that are not are being managed and rectified appropriately.

How CERCLA Complicates The PFAS Problem

As states and the federal government attempt to crack down on the proliferation of PFAS and their health consequences with a spate of new regulations, there is one significant upcoming ruling that will have tremendous impact for compliance and costs: the final rule on PFAS CERCLA designation.

Collaboration Between Departments Increases Performance And Profitability In Mining Operations

Choosing the right dosing pump requires collaboration across engineering, operations, and procurement. Prioritizing total cost of ownership over price leads to better mining performance and ROI.

The Big Fracking Question: Is Drinking Water At Risk?

Understanding the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on source water, in both quantity and quality, is of vital importance to industry, the economy, and society. The latest research on the subject is presented, along with possible solutions to help overcome known and potential problems.

Fracking Disclosures Show Widespread Use Of Hazardous Chemicals

Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a process in which workers inject fluids underground under high pressure. The fluids fracture coal beds and shale rock, allowing the gas and oil trapped within the rock to rise to the surface. Advances in fracking launched a huge expansion of U.S. oil and gas production starting in the early 2000s but also triggered intense debate over its health and environmental impacts.

UK PVC Windows And Doors Manufacturer Uses Galaxy Filters To Achieve High Quality Process Water

One of the UK’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of PVC windows and doors expanded production and required an increase in their cooling water. Read the full case study to learn how Amiad helped.

Industrial Water Treatment For Inorganic Contaminants: Selecting A Treatment Process

This article is the second in a series on industrial water treatment focusing on inorganic contaminants.

Growing And Flourishing In A Desert

Water is essential to life. And it is a very precious commodity in Israel, home to 9 million people living in a rocky desert that receives about 10 inches of rain a year. By comparison, Denver, considered semi-arid, gets about 15 inches of rain a year, which is about a fourth of the precipitation a tropical city such as Miami receives.

GeoSpray® 49″ Brick Sewer Rehab In Los Angeles

Los Angeles Sanitation collects, cleans, and recycles solid and liquid waste generated by residential, commercial and industrial users in the city of Los Angeles and surrounding communities. The system serves over four million residents. The Bureau of Engineering for the Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining the sewer and stormwater systems owned by the city. Over the last several decades, the city has worked to rehabilitate and replace much of its aging sanitary sewer system. As the progress continues, the city is now doing more work on the larger diameter piping structures in its system. These larger diameter rehabilitations are significantly more costly than the smaller diameter repairs and many of the systems employed by the city are significantly budget constrained.