Challenges facing produced water are accelerating
The Permian Basin is facing accelerating challenges with produced water, with volumes expected to rise significantly by 2036 and a projected lack of disposal access in the Delaware Basin by 2035. The influx of data centers in Texas is creating a new dynamic, as a 1-gigawatt data center alone could consume 220,000 barrels of water daily, exacerbating existing water and electricity concerns among communities. Solutions involving advanced treatment, recycling, desalination, and critical mineral extraction from produced water are being explored, with calls for regulatory agencies to act.
Brady Murphy, president and CEO of Tetra Technologies, opened the 11th annual Permian Basin conference of the Produced Water Society, highlighting the accelerating challenges posed by increasing water volumes, rising formation pressures, and dwindling permits for new disposal wells in the energy industry.
Murphy projected that the Permian Basin, currently producing 21 million barrels of water per day, will see this figure rise to 28 million barrels daily by 2036. By 2035, the Delaware Basin alone is expected to have 7.2 million barrels of water without access to disposal. He noted that the growing number of data centers in Texas complicates the situation, citing that a 1-gigawatt data center could demand 220,000 barrels of water per day, which is largely unsustainable using fresh water, especially in a drought-prone state like Texas. Communities are already expressing concerns over data center power usage and its impact on electricity costs.
Tetra Technologies introduced its Oasis Total Desalination Solution, which successfully treated produced water in a commercial pilot project in the Delaware Basin, achieving a 92% recovery rate of desalinated water that surpasses municipal drinking water standards. Murphy also discussed the potential for extracting critical minerals like bromide, iodine, and lithium from the vast volumes of produced water. He concluded that reducing disposal, increasing reuse for data centers, and extracting minerals presents a "win-win" scenario, urging regulatory agencies to determine the necessary next steps to implement these solutions.