NEW STUDY OF WASTEWATER

US: NORTH CAROLINA A new study from Duke University suggests that naturally occurring brines, not man-made fracking fluids, account for

most of the wastewater coming from hydraulically fractured unconventional oil and gas wells.

Published in the journal – Science of the Total Environment – the findings revealed that more than 92% of the flowback and produced water – or wastewater - coming from the wells is derived from naturally occurring brines that are extracted along with the gas and oil.

However, researchers warned that these brines still carry their own risks, as they contain varying levels of salts, heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive elements, and their sheer volume makes disposing of them a challenge.

Source: WWINTERNATIONAL.COM