Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have revolutionized natural gas production in the U.S., projected to rise 44 percent from 2011 to 2040 largely due to these technologies.
And yet water—arguably the most important ingredient in the fracking process—represents a weak spot in this growth. One well uses anywhere from 3 to 7 million gallons of water which, when mixed with sand and chemicals, allows drillers to blast apart shale at depth to release natural gas.