High Sierra Water Services, a flowback and produced water treatment specialist, has announced that it has filed a patent for an on-site, portable water treatment technology designed to treat produced water and focus on the removal of scale-forming compounds. This patent is based on the process of chemical precipitation, and offers a flexible approach that allows various precipitating reagents to be used, depending upon location and economic factors.

This process is designed to provide the following benefits:

• Flexibility in the volume of water treated – the process can be set up to treat as much as 20,000 barrels of water per day or as little as 2,000 barrels of water per day.
  
  
• Adaptability to fixed facilities – the technology is designed to be used in a portable setting, but is adaptable for use in a fixed, central facility as well.
  
  
• Ease of chemical transportation – the process allows operators to select treatment chemistry based on ease of material handling at the drilling site.
  
  
• Supports using a “green” water recycling approach – the process offers an environmentally friendly option to treat produced water for recycling use, which reduces vehicle traffic because water does not need to be transferred to another location for disposal purposes.

“This is another example of how High Sierra Water Services adopts the best available technology into its patented processes and offers industry-leading options for water treatment,” says High Sierra’s Mark Marcin. “Because we are not tied to one single approach or technology, we have the flexibility to develop solutions like this that address the real-world challenges and economics that our oil and gas industry partners face.”