Industry creates profit and products we can all use, but it often comes at a significant cost. The positive outcome of hydraulic fracturing is the discovery of more usable natural gas, but one frequently mentioned downside is the way water is used in the process. Not only does the fracturing process use a lot of water, the flowback water it produces as a by-product contains chemicals that cause concern among some members of the public.
Although the industry believes the flowback water is safe, it’s harder to convince the public of the same. And everyone, public and private industry alike, agrees that water is a limited resource. That’s why researchers at Duke University have been working to develop a new technology that would allow reclamation and neutralization of flowback water.