Fountain Quail Water Management LLC, a subsidiary of Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc., has announced an alliance with Layne Christensen Co. The parties have executed a Memorandum of Understanding, enabling the firms to join forces to provide treatment and disposal solutions in challenging shale gas and other industrial wastewater treatment applications. The agreement takes effect immediately.

The alliance allows both companies to market the other's products and services, and seeks to exploit their complementary technologies to provide shale gas operators with a "turnkey solution" for treatment of flowback, produced water and other waste streams. The combined services are intended to provide a comprehensive solution for pre-treatment, re-use and disposal of drilling wastewater using both mobile and permanent facilities.

"We are extremely pleased to team with an industry leader like Aqua-Pure, which has developed a most cost-effective and viable wastewater recycling process," says Greg Aluce, Layne's president of Water Technologies. "We believe our combined marketing efforts and technical expertise position us as a formidable player in the rapidly expanding shale gas market. Our recent acquisition of Intevras Technologies, a leader in the treatment and disposal of heavy brine in the oil and gas markets, provides synergistic technologies ranging from basic on-site treatment to complete zero-liquid discharge solutions."

"Our relationship with Layne is an important milestone in our company's history, enabling Aqua-Pure to compete aggressively for business in virtually every shale play across North America," says Brent Halldorson, chief operating officer of Calgary-based Aqua-Pure. "Layne is an outstanding company with impeccable credentials, and we are pleased to team with them at this pivotal moment in our industry's development."

In addition to pursuing the vast North American markets, the companies plan to jointly explore global opportunities for their combined technology services, as well as applications in heavy oil, power, mining and other related industries.

Since 2004, Aqua-Pure has developed and refined its industry-leading technology for recycling flowback and produced water in North Texas. During that time, the company has recycled roughly 700 million gallons of wastewater in the Barnett Shale. The treated water, which otherwise would have been injected into disposal wells and permanently removed from the hydrological cycle, instead is re-used in drilling operations. The technology now is being deployed in the Marcellus Shale, at Eureka Resources' water treatment facility in Williamsport, Pa.