Treated water from oil and gas extraction as an unconventional water resource for agriculture in the Anadarko Basin

Abstract

The energy industry generates large volumes of produced water (PW) as a byproduct of oil and gas extraction. In the central United States, PW disposal occurs through deep well injection, which can increase seismic activity. The treatment of PW for use in agriculture is an alternative to current disposal practices that can also provide supplemental water in regions where limited freshwater sources can affect agricultural production. This paper assesses the potential for developing PW as a water source for agriculture in the Anadarko basin, a major oil and gas field spanning parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas. From 2011 to 2019, assessment of state oil and gas databases indicated that PW generation in the Anadarko Basin averaged 428 million m3/yr. A techno-economic analysis of PW treatment was combined with geographical information on PW availability and composition to assess the costs and energy requirements to recover this PW as a non-conventional water resource for agriculture. The volume of freshwater economically extractable from PW was estimated to be between 58 million m3 per year using reverse osmosis (RO) treatment only and 82 million m3 per year using a combination of RO and mechanical vapor compression to treat higher salinity waters. These volumes could meet 1–2 % and 49–70 % of the irrigation and livestock water demands in the basin, respectively. PW recovery could also modestly contribute to mitigating the decline of the Ogallala aquifer by ~2 %. RO treatment costs and energy requirements, 0.3–1.5 $/m3 and 1.01–2.65 kWh/m3, respectively, are similar to those for deep well injection. Treatment of higher salinity waters increases costs and energy requirements substantially and is likely not economically feasible in most cases. The approach presented here provides a valuable framework for assessing PW as a supplemental water source in regions facing similar challenges.