Environmental Aspects of Produced Water Disposal

Abstract

Environmental Aspects of Produced Water Disposal

Within the oil and gas production industry there is an increased focus on the discharge of produced waters to the environment. That there is no universally agreed standard for oil-in-water discharge quality is partly an indication of the different capacities of receiving waters to absorb the pollutants. It is, however, compounded by a lack of any universally agreed methods even on how to measure oil-in-water with, in extreme cases, results varying by orders of magnitude according to the actual methods used. In the future, it will be increasingly necessary to demonstrate that not only is the oil-in-water content acceptable but also that the water is non-toxic. This toxicity can arise from dissolved hydrocarbons, such as benzene, heavy metals and perhaps even radioactive elements.