WQA Aquatech USA 2013 Indianapolis, Indiana Testing Water Quality in Gas Fracking Regions Presented by Ivars Jaunakais

WQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, IndianaWQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, Indiana

Testing Water Quality in Gas Fracking RegionsPresented by Ivars Jaunakais

2WQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, Indiana

Testing Water Quality in Gas Fracking Regions

“Anyone who tells you there are not profound risks in drilling shale for

natural gas is misleading you.

But anybody who tells you there are not extreme benefits is doing the

same thing.”The End of Country - Seamus McGraw, 2011


What is Fracking?

3

Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing,” the catch-all term used to describe the process of extracting oil and natural gas from shale rock

formations deep underground.


What is Fracking?

Fracking blasts a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at underground shale to release the gas or oil captured in the rock.

This form of natural gas drilling has potential for groundwater contamination.

4

5WQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, Indiana 5

Fracking Illustrated


Fracking Illustrated

6


Fracking is a growing industry

7


In the United States, residents living near fracked gas wells have filed over 1,000 complaints regarding tainted water and recently, the EPA Connected 'Fracking' To Water Contamination.

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/08/143386908/epa-connects-fracking-with-water-contamination




What the frack?

• New Study Confirms Fracking Chemicals have caused Water Contamination

• Pennsylvania is at the forefront of this subject after a recent study was released showing fracking is very possibly the cause of contaminated drinking water

• The natural gas companies are fighting back and claim that fracking deep in the ground can not cause contamination


Fracking areas in the US

10


Why Water Quality Testing is Vital

• There are no regulations or laws that require water testing if your house is served by a private water source (well / ground water)

• Water testing for public water supply is required by law. Routinely testing of the water is done and water must meet USEPA water quality standards

• Fracking is done in rural areas where private wells are principal water source

11


Why Water Quality Testing is Vital

12

• A loophole in the 2005 Energy Bill exempts gas drillers from EPA guidelines like the Clean Water Act

• A water's taste, smell, or color is not necessarily an indicator of water quality

• Many hazardous contaminants are undetectable to the senses and can only be detected by testing


Important Water Quality Test Parameters in Gas Fracking Regions

13


List of Fracking Chemicals

14


Fracking Fluid Components by Volume

15


Additive Purposes

16


Minimum recommended water tests

17


Additional water tests to consider

18


Additional water tests to consider

19


Alkalinity

• A measure of materials in water that can neutralize acidity

• Common sources are carbonates and bicarbonates from bedrock — especially limestone

• Higher alkalinity water supplies have high hardness and/or total dissolved solids which may cause aesthetic issues.

20


Arsenic

• Naturally occurring metal also found in industrial wastes, pesticides and treated lumber.

• Water should contain arsenic below the MCL of 0.010 mg/L to be safe to drink.

• Higher amounts are carcinogenic and can cause many other health problems.

• On-site Arsenic test kit that is USEPA verified can be used.

21


Barium

• A metal that occurs naturally in low concentrations but found in a variety of waste fluids from gas drilling and other industries

• Water should be below the MCL of 2.0 mg/L to be safe to drink due to gastrointestinal illness, muscular weakness and high blood pressure.

• Testing Lab is recommended

22


Bacteria (Total Coliform / E-coli)

• Bacteria (Coliform) is common in surface water.

• Subgroups of fecal coliform or E. coli bacteria, indicate animal or human waste contamination

• Coliform bacteria including fecal coliform and/or E. coli bacteria should be absent (MCL <1) to avoid gastrointestinal issues

• On-site visual Bacteria tests are USEPA compliant and can be used for testing.

23


Bromide

• Found abundantly in salt waters, brines, and various waste fluids

• Bromide in water can form carcinogens when chlorine is added to disinfect water

• On-site Salt (Photometer) test can be used to determine level or by Testing Lab

24


Chloride (Salt)

• Naturally occurring salt that occurs at elevated levels from road salt runoff, gas drilling and septic systems

• Water should have less than the MCL of 250 mg/L to avoid salty taste, metal corrosion and other aesthetic problems

• On-site Salt test (photometer or salt meter) can be used or by Testing Lab

25


Gross Alpha Radiation

• Measure of alpha radiation given off by naturally occurring radium in water

• Water should have less than the MCL of 15 pCi/L due to health concerns including some cancers

• Requires sophisticated Lab equipment to determine contamination levels

26


Hardness (Calcium and Magnesium)

• Naturally occurring minerals that cause grayish or white scale and other aesthetic water issues

• No industry standard for testing

• High hardness causes scale build-up, especially where water is heated

• TH is Total Hardness and measures both Calcium and Magnesium s

• And Calcium Hardness measures only Calcium

• On-site photometer test meters are available for both tests

27


Iron

• Mineral which occurs naturally in the environment or from disturbances like fracking

• Causes orange/brown stains and metallic taste

• Water should contain less than 0.3 mg/L due to aesthetic problems

• On-site photometer test kits available for test

28


Manganese

• Another Mineral that occurs naturally in the environment

• Causes black stains or sediment and metallic taste

• Water should contain less than 0.5 mg/L due to aesthetic problems

• On-site photometer test kits are available for test

29


Methane / Ethane

• Naturally occurring or from fossil fuels, animal manure, biomass decomposition or landfills.

• Cause bubbling noise in well, spurting faucets, white gas bubbles in water

• No testing standard

• Vented well caps suggested when levels exceed 7 to 10 mg/L and aeration suggested above 28 mg/L

• Lab testing is recommended

30


Nitrate-N

• Common nutrient found > 1.0 mg/L in pristine groundwater and streams

• Increased levels (above 3 mg/L) from fertilizer, animal wastes, and septic systems

• Water should be under the MCL of 10 mg/L

• Nitrate-N causes health concerns related to blue-baby disease

• On-site photometer test kits can give levels in 10 minutes

31


pH

• An important measure of water quality. Low pH causes corrosion of metal plumbing components while high pH causes taste issues

• Water should have a balanced pH between the 6.5 and 8.5 to avoid aesthetic problems like metal corrosion and poor tasting water

• On-site testing can be done by pH meter or pH photometer test kit

32


Sulfate

• A common, naturally occurring constituent of water.

• High sulfates originate from bed-rock or fracking activity

• Water should contain less than 250 mg/L due to aesthetic effects

• On-site photometer test kit is available for test

33


Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

• A measure of dissolved inorganic & organic substances, acceptable levels for human drinking water is 100 mg/l

• High levels caused by natural minerals (like hardness) or pollution from various environmental activities

• TDS levels can indicate increased levels of toxic substances

• Gives water a salty or metallic taste

• On-site TDS meter is available for test

34


Total Suspended Solids (TSS)

• A measure of the visible sediment and parti-cles in the water due to soil, metals, etc

• Causes cloudiness to water. No standard for TSS but there is a MCL for Turbidity of 1 NTU

• On-site Turbidity meters can do test

35


Zinc

• Zinc can be introduced into water naturally by erosion of minerals from rocks and soil

• High natural levels of zinc in water are usually associated with higher concentrations of other metals such as lead and cadmium

• High levels of zinc can lead to stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting

• Water with a zinc concentration of more than 5 mg/L becomes chalky in appearance with a detectable deterioration in taste

• On-Site photometer test kits are available to do test36


When to monitor your tap water?

• Test early to establish a baseline for certain markers of tap water, stream or watershed health. Document location, time, date carefully.

• Fracking wastewater includes salt brine and metals - take pH and TDS readings when collecting samples.

• Measure TDS – which will rise dramatically when streams are contaminated with fracking wastewater

37


Now YOU can professionally test Water Quality at home

38


The ultimate water quality tester


• Lab quality accuracy at minimal cost

• Handheld and uses a easy safe procedure

• Dual wavelength (525 nm & 638)

• Battery operation allows portable field/on-site testing

• Directly reads over 35 water quality parameters with memory storage

• Waterproof

Features


• US Patented test method that uses a waterproof colorimeter with a “cell” or cuvette permanently welded into the meter

• Plastic cell replaces glass cells to reduce breakage

Features


Simple and patented test procedure

• The US Patent in addition covers the colorimetric reagents delivery method by a test strip (eXact Micro Strip), which adds reagent(s) into the “cell” when dipped for 20 seconds


Rinse cell three times with water sample to be tested and fill cell to capacity.

Simple test procedure (Total Hardness)


Place cap over cell and press ON/ZERO Button to Zero Meter



Insert Reagent Test Strip into Cell and Press READ. Meter begins 20-second countdown and during countdown, move strip back & forth to add colorimetric reagent.



Remove and discard strip. Add cell cap and meter will automatically continue to the read and store in memory.

Total Hardness result is 127 ppm (7.4 gpg) as CaCO3 ( 17.1 ppm = 1gpg )



Micro 20 List of Tests


Recommendations

• Test private home well water every 6 months

• Find unbiased sources and stay informed about fracking

• Understand the existing Federal, State and Local regulations, including the testing that might be done on well water supplies

• Save copies of all results from water tests performed on each Well and be sure they are documented properly for Date, Time of day, Test Method, Operator of testing the water, Water source with full details of address,, owner of well, and which faucet was used for sample for the water sample. The more details the better.

• On-site photometers should be confirmed that they operate accurately by using and documenting Ready-Snap Standard test results.

48


Questions? Industrial Test Systems, Inc.

[email protected] www.sensafe.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sensafe.com/

Documents

WQA Aquatech USA 2013 Indianapolis, Indiana Testing Water Quality in Gas Fracking Regions Presented by Ivars Jaunakais