Progress 01/01/24 to 12/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience wasparticipants at conferences at which we presented our findings, farmers, companies and EPA due to their interest in treatment and reuse of produced water for agricultural reuse, and the Colorado Produced Water Consortium (Dr. Borch serves as a voting board member). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two Ph.D. students and one postdoc have been working on the project during this reporting period. The two PhD students have scheduled their defenses for August and September 2025. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We showed our field site and presented our findings to EPA HQ as well as EPA regions 6 and 8 in Orla, Texas. Conferences including two presentations at The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America 45th Annual Meeting entitled 1) "Beneficial Reuse of Conventional Produced Water: A Denver-Julesburg Case Study" and 2) Reuse of Produced Water (PW) in Agriculture. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Data analysis to help finish two manuscripts one is currently under review, and one is being writtenat the moment.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1) We determined the potential for reusing oil and gas produced water for cattle, crops, and surface water discharge with special focus on evaluation of chemistry, toxicity and economics" here is a summary of this study: Oil and gas produced water (PW), may help alleviate regional water scarcity affecting agriculture, but is often rich in salts and organic compounds that constrain agricultural applications. The specific objective is to assess the reuse potential of conventional PW through a comprehensive assessment of chemistry, toxicity, and economics by investigating PW from 18 conventionally drilled wells from sandstone formations in the Colorado Denver-Julesburg Basin. Ammonium, total dissolved solids, boron, sodium, and chloride were all close to recommended guidelines for livestock and crop irrigation and surface water discharge. Diesel and gasoline range organics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in low concentrations in evaporation ponds compared to oil water separators, suggesting volatilization or degradation of organic compounds. Radium levels were generally low, but select samples exceeded the regulatory 5 pCi/g threshold, categorizing them as Non-Exempt TENORM (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) waste. EC50withDaphnia magna (D. magna)showed little to no toxicity for PW sampled in evaporation ponds in contrast to EC50values of 12?% at the oil water separator, indicating that volatile organics-controlled toxicity. However, the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) bioassay illustrated toxicity not captured by the EC50test. After chemical and toxicological analyses, it is clear that treatment is required, which informed our techno-economic assessment (TEA). Current PW volumes result in a treatment cost of $5.38/m3($1.42/barrel) by nanofiltration, but a scenario with increased volumes will result in a lower cost of $3.83/m³?($0.60/barrel). Our chemical, toxicological, and economic assessment indicates that the PW in this study has potential to be discharged to surface water or reused for cattle and crop irrigation. 2) Field evaluation of treated produced water for agricultural irrigation"here is a summary of this study: In arid and semi-arid regions, the reuse of treated produced water (PW) from oil and gas operations is being explored as a potential alternative water source for agriculture. However, field-scale evidence on its impacts remains limited. This field study was conducted in Orla, Texas to evaluate the effects of treated PW irrigation on crop growth, soil chemistry, and soil microbiome. Sorghum-sudangrass was grown for three months under two irrigation regimes: treated PW and fresh water (FW). Post-harvest analysis revealed no significant differences in plant biomass or height between the treatments. Soil analysis revealed significantly elevated boron concentrations in the PW-irrigated soil, while magnesium levels were higher in soils receiving FW. No treatment effects were observed in bacterial or fungal community composition in preliminary analysis. These findings suggest that treated PW can be used for short-term irrigation without negatively impacting plant performance or soil microbial structure under the conditions tested.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Wiltse, M. E.; Ballenger, B.; Stewart, C. B.; Blewett, T. A.; Wadler, C.; Roth, H. K.; Coupannec, M.; Malik, H. T.; Xu, P.; Tarazona, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Sudowe, R.; Rosenblum, J. S.; Quinn, J. C.; Borch, T. Oil and gas produced water for cattle, crops, and surface water discharge: Evaluation of chemistry, toxicity and economics. J Hazard Mater 2025, 494, 138581. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138581
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Wiltse, M.E., Zvulunov, Y., and Borch, T. Short Chain PFAS Removal by Surface Modified
Biochars. Poster Presentation at PFAS in Colorado: Research, Regulations, and Real-World
Experiences Denver, CO February 2025
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Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience was participants at conferences at which we presented our findings, farmers and companies interested in the treatment and reuse of produced water for agricultural reuse, and the Colorado Produced Water Consortium (Dr. Borch serves as a voting board member). Changes/Problems:We have added a field component to the proposed experiments. Here we will treat produced water in Orla, Texas using an advanced treatment train in collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines and reuse the treated produced water for irrigation of sorghum. We will evaluate the impact of treated produced water irrigation on soil and crop health. We have not changed anything in the proposal just added this important experiment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three Ph.D. students have been working on this project and should result in three Ph.D. dissertations. One of these three PhD students "Nohyeong Jeong" successfully defended his PhD in 2023. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Borch, T. Livestock and Water: An Unbreakable Nexus. Northern Water Fall Water Symposium. November 15, 2023, Embassy Suites, Loveland, Colorado. At this symposium information related to treatment and reuse of water was communicated to key water managers in Colorado. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Conduct afield experiment focused on treating produced water in Orla, Texas. We will treat produced water at the well-head, using advanced technologies, and irrigate a 1/4-acre sorghum field with the treated water and compare to control plots irrigated with freshwater Conduct experiments focused on using biochar for removal oftoxic compounds from wastewater such as PFAS. We will write and submit at least 2 manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals. The first paper will be focused on evaluating the chemistry, toxicity, and economics of treating conventional produced water for livestock and crop irrigation as well as surface water discharge. The second paper will focus on irrigating wheat with conventional produced water and evaluate the potential impact on soil and crop health.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement: Our study demonstrates that the resulting water quality of treated unconventional=produced water varies significantly depending on the combination of treatment steps i.e., coagulation, microfiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis membrane. However, our optimized treatment train resulted in water quality that meet guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water based on our comprehensive characterization of water chemistry and toxicity. We found that the organic compounds were effectively removed by NF and RO membranes, however, the water quality could be further optimized by lowering both the salinity and boron concentration in the treated produced water. In addition, we demonstrate that conventional-produced water can be used with little to no treatment for irrigation of wheat crops without causing adverse impacts on plant and soil health based on one growing season in a greenhouse study. Accomplishments: RO1:Investigate the treatment efficacy of different treatment trains (pretreatment combined with membrane filtration) for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) produced water intended for agricultural irrigation. The treatment efficacies of pretreatment (e.g., coagulation and microfiltration), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were investigated by comparing the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents before and after treatment. Our study demonstrates that the residual organic compounds in the treated produced water with NF and RO membranes met guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water. The NF membranes showed less effective inorganic constituent rejections, and the permeates should be treated with RO membranes or diluted with fresh water in order to meet the water quality guideline for irrigation and livestock drinking water. RO membranes demonstrated the high performance on reducing the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents. However, depending on the crop types, further treatment would be necessary for removing boron in the treated produced water. RO2:Characterize the toxicity and chemical composition at the molecular level of UOG produced water before and after treatment (RO1) using bulk methods and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry for non-targeted analysis of pollutants. We utilized ion chromatography (IC), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS), and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GCFID) to comprehensively characterize the conventional and unconventional produced water before and after treatment. New analytical methods were developed to analyze surfactants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and anions. After analyzing the organic and inorganic constituents, and the toxicity level before and after each treatment step, the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents were compared with water quality guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water. In addition, we investigated the possible toxic sources for the treated produced water. By comparing the reported toxicity of organic and inorganic constituents in the literature, we revealed that the organic compounds in NF and RO permeates had minor impacts on LC50 and EC50 for Daphnia magna. The main driver of acute lethal toxicity in the treated produced water likely resulted from the salinity level of the treated produced water. We also found that EC50, which is a more ecologically sensitive metric of toxicity, was affected by the presence of surfactants. RO3:Identify the impact of treated UOG produced water on soil and crop health using greenhouse-based crop irrigation studies. The following watering regimes were tested on a wheat crop in conventional produced water irrigation study: 1) tap water control (Control), 2) undiluted produced water (PW100), 3) 50% diluted produced water (PW50), 4) salt control with salinity equal to undiluted produced water (SW100), and 5) salt control with salinity equal to 50% diluted produced water (SW50). Wheat was harvested 115 days after planting. For yield and biomass comparison, above ground biomass, including seeds and stalks, was collected and dried for 96 hours at 60°C. Following wheat harvest, soil was collected for soil characterization and microbial community analysis and stored in suitable conditions. Soil characterization on the air dried and sieved soil included soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, water stable aggregates, potentially mineralizable nitrogen, pH and electrical conductivity (EC), plant available potassium and phosphorus, soil texture, and betaglucosidase activity. After collection, all soil characterization data was entered in Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) in order to determine soil physical, chemical, nutrient, biological, and overall soil quality indices (SQI). Output from SMAF provides indices that vary from 0 to 1, with 1 the theoretical greatest and 0 the worst soil health. Grain yield and above ground biomass response comparison indicates no significant differences between treatments. However, microbial community analysis indicated that microbial communities in the soil irrigated with PW were different from saltwater and the tap-water control treatments. It showed the decrease in the bacterial classes Nitrososphaeria and Actinobacteria and increase in class Bacteroidia in PW as compared to control and saltwater treatments. Soil characterization output from SMAF revealed that for physical SQI, PW100 and SW100 had statistically lower values than the control treatment. Nutrient and biological SQI values did not indicate significant differences between control and PW treatments while chemical SQI values for PW100 treatment were significantly lower than all other treatments. RO4:Elucidate the influence of irrigation water quality (UOG produced water treatment level) on the plant metabolome by metabolomics for identification of adverse crop effects. Metabolomics analysis was performed using LCMS and GCMS techniques for leaf tissue and wheat kernels samples collected from the conventional PW irrigation study (RO3). Preliminary analysis indicated no significant differences between treatments, and conventional PW irrigation has not been found to cause alterations at the metabolite level. However, efforts are undergoing to analyze the data in more detail, after which we will be able to draw final conclusions.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Jeong, N.; Wiltse, M. E.; Boyd, A.; Blewett, T.; Park, S.; Broeckling, C.; Borch, T.; Tong, T. Efficacy of Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis for the Treatment of Oil-Field Produced Water Intended for Beneficial Reuse. ACS ES&T Engineering 2023, 3 (10), 1568-1581
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wiltse, M. E.; Jeong, N.; Boyd, A.; Blewett, T.; Park, S.; Broeckling, C.; Borch, T.; Tong, T. Efficacy of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis for the treatment of oil-field produced water intended for beneficial reuse. Oral presentation at the American Geophysical Union Conference, San Francisco, CA December 2023
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Progress 01/01/22 to 12/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Professionals, soil and crop scientists, environmental engineers, water managers, farmers, water treatment companies, oil and gas producers, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three Ph.D. students and one undergraduate student are working on this project and should result in three Ph.D.dissertations. The undergraduate student has been trained both in the greenhouse and lab and has been involved in sampleprocessing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have communicated our results to major oil and gas companies and one farmer interested in treating and reusing produced water for irrigation. We are also involved in establishinga new oil and gas consortium in Colorado focused on treatment and reuse of produced water. The consortium includes many stakeholders such as EPA, COGCC, EDF, water treatment companies, oil and gas companies, and academia. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Investigate walnut shell filtration as a sustainable and cost-effective treatment option for produced water by understanding the preferential adsorption of key chemical constituents present in produced water (surfactants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and salts). Elucidate specific compound groups responsible for the observed acute toxicity and chronic toxicity in PW. Initiate studies looking at potential chronic toxicity, particularly focused on elucidating the efficacy of walnut shell filtration of PW. Conduct in-depth analysis of metabolomics data and investigate its correlation with other soil and crop data collected and analyzed from the green-house study.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement: Our study demonstrates that the resulting water quality of treated unconventional produced water varies significantly depending on the combination of treatment steps i.e., coagulation, microfiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis membrane. However, our optimized treatment train resulted in water quality that meet guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water based on our comprehensive characterization of water chemistry and toxicity. We found that the organic compounds were effectively removed by NF and RO membranes, however, the water quality could be further optimized by lowering both the salinity and boron concentration in the treated produced water. In addition, we demonstrate that conventional produced water can be used with little to no treatment for irrigation of wheat crops without causing adverse impacts on plant and soil health based on one growing season in a greenhouse study. Accomplishments: RO1:Investigate the treatment efficacy of different treatment trains (pretreatment combined with membrane filtration) for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) produced water intended for agricultural irrigation. The treatment efficacies of pretreatment (e.g., coagulation and microfiltration), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were investigated by comparing the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents before and after treatment. Our study demonstrates that the residual organic compounds in the treated produced water with NF and RO membranes met the guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water. The NF membranes showed less effective inorganic constituent rejections, and the permeates should be treated with RO membranes or diluted with fresh water in order to meet the water quality guideline for irrigation and livestock drinking water. RO membranes demonstrated the high performance on reducing the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents. However, depending on the crop types, further treatment would be necessary for removing boron in the treated produced water. RO2:Characterize the toxicity and chemical composition at the molecular level of UOG produced water before and after treatment (RO1) using bulk methods and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry for non-targeted analysis of pollutants. We utilized ion chromatography (IC), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS), and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GCFID) to comprehensively characterize the conventional and unconventional produced water before and after treatment. New analytical methods were developed to analyze surfactants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and anions. After analyzing the organic and inorganic constituents, and the toxicity level before and after each treatment step, the concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents were compared with water quality guidelines for irrigation and livestock drinking water. In addition, we investigated the possible toxic sources for the treated produced water. By comparing the reported toxicity of organic and inorganic constituents in the literature, we revealed that the organic compounds in NF and RO permeates had minor impacts on LC50 and EC50 for Daphnia magna. The main driver of acute lethal toxicity in the treated produced water likely resulted from the salinity level of the treated produced water. We also found that EC50, which is a more ecologically sensitive metric of toxicity, was affected by the presence of surfactants. RO3:Identify the impact of treated UOG produced water on soil and crop health using greenhouse-based crop irrigation studies. The following watering regimes were tested on a wheat crop in conventional produced water irrigation study: 1) tap water control (Control), 2) undiluted produced water (PW100), 3) 50% diluted produced water (PW50), 4) salt control with salinity equal to undiluted produced water (SW100), and 5) salt control with salinity equal to 50% diluted produced water (SW50). Wheat was harvested 115 days after planting. For yield and biomass comparison, above ground biomass, including seeds and stalks, was collected and dried for 96 hours at 60°C. Following wheat harvest, soil was collected for soil characterization and microbial community analysis and stored in suitable conditions. Soil characterization on the air dried and sieved soil included soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, water stable aggregates, potentially mineralizable nitrogen, pH and electrical conductivity (EC), plant available potassium and phosphorus, soil texture, and betaglucosidase activity. After collection, all soil characterization data was entered in Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) in order to determine soil physical, chemical, nutrient, biological, and overall soil quality indices (SQI). Output from SMAF provides indices that vary from 0 to 1, with 1 the theoretical greatest and 0 the worst soil health. Grain yield and above ground biomass response comparison indicates no significant differences between treatments. However, microbial community analysis indicated that microbial communities in the soil irrigated with PW were different from saltwater and the tap-water control treatments. It showed the decrease in bacterial classes Nitrososphaeria and Actinobacteria and increase in class Bacteroidia in PW as compared to control and saltwater treatments. Soil characterization output from SMAF revealed that for physical SQI, PW100 and SW100 had statistically lower values than the control treatment. Nutrient and biological SQI values did not indicate significant differences between control and PW treatments while chemical SQI values for PW100 treatment were significantly lower than all other treatments. RO4:Elucidate the influence of irrigation water quality (UOG produced water treatment level) on the plant metabolome by metabolomics for identification of adverse crop effects. Metabolomics analysis was performed using LCMS and GCMS techniques for leaf tissue and wheat kernels samples collected from the conventional PW irrigation study (RO3). Preliminary analysis indicated no significant differences between treatments, and conventional PW irrigation has not been found to cause alterations at the metabolite level. However, efforts are undergoing to analyze the data in more detail, after which we will be able to draw final conclusions.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Yushun Yang, Lun Tian, Thomas Borch, Huma Tariq, Tong Li, Yuhua Bai, Yihong Su, Alberto Tiraferri, John C. Crittenden, and Baicang Liu. 2022. Safety and Technical Feasibility of Sustainable Reuse of Shale Gas Flowback and Produced Water after Advanced Treatment Aimed at Wheat Irrigation. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2022 10 (38), 12540-12551. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c02170
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Carolyn M. Cooper, James McCall, Sean C. Stokes, Cameron McKay, Matthew J. Bentley, James S. Rosenblum, Tamzin A. Blewett, Zhe Huang, Ariel Miara, Michael Talmadge, Anna Evans, Kurban A. Sitterley, Parthiv Kurup, Jennifer R. Stokes-Draut, Jordan Macknick, Thomas Borch, Tzahi Y. Cath, and Lynn E. Katz. 2022. Oil and Gas Produced Water Reuse: Opportunities, Treatment Needs, and Challenges. ACS ES&T Engineering 2022 2 (3), 347-366. DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.1c00248
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Progress 01/01/21 to 12/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Professionals, soil and cropscientists, environmental engineers, water managers, farmers, water treatment companies,oil and gas producers, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Changes/Problems:The only change to report is that we are including conventional produced water in addition to UOG produced water. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three Ph.D. students and one undergraduate student are working on this project and should result in three Ph.D. dissertations. The undergraduate student has been trained both in the greenhouse and lab and has been involved in sample processing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Further development of treatment train for UOG produced water based on year one findings. We will optimize to lower treatment cost and improve water to allow for agricultural irrigation. We will continue our chemical characterization of the treated water using both the methods stated in this report but also include non-targeted analysis using Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). This will provide more information about high molecular weight compounds and help us identify previously unrecognized compounds. Elucidate specific compound groups responsible for the observed acute toxicity. Initiate a few studies looking at potential chronic toxicity. Complete detailed metabolomics study of leaf samples collected from 2021 greenhouse study using conventional produced water for irrigation Conduct full scale greenhouse study to investigate the impact of using treated UOG produced water on plant metabolomics
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement: Our preliminary findings show that the quality of produced water can vary significantly and that the non-treatedconventional produced water used in our studies can sustain cropyields similar to crops irrigated with freshwater. We also found that the tested conventional produced water did not appear to pose acute toxicity based on standard LC50 and EC50 testing using Daphnia as a test organism (EC50 is the concentration which immobilizes 50% of the Daphnia in a test batch within 48 hours while LC50 is the concentration that kills 50% of the Daphnia).In contrast, even highly diluted untreated unconventional produced water proved to pose significant acute toxicity. Importantly, we found that both membrane and walnut shell-based filtration can be used to treat unconventional water and that the type of membrane and inclusion of pretreatment impact the LC50 and EC50. However, further chemical and toxicological characterization of the treated water is required to evaluate if it is suitable for agricultural irrigation. Accomplishments: RO1:Investigate the treatment efficacy of different treatment trains (pretreatment combined with membrane filtration) for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) produced water intended for agricultural irrigation. Treatment using RO membranes resulted in reduction of the number of organics, toxicity, and surfactants. These findings indicate that we may be able to treat the UOG produced water to a level that will allow for irrigation depending on the outcome of future chemical and toxicological assessment of the water. Nanofiltration-based treatment was found to be less effective in terms of toxicity reduction when compared to RO. Based on all the tested treatments of unconventional water, we were able to obtain LC50 improvements ranging from 5% to 12-100% (i.e., a LC50 of 100% means that there was no LC50 and thus no acute toxicity). The LC50 increased with reverse osmosis membranes the most, with the pretreatments using coagulation and microfiltration all increasing the LC50 to anywhere between 12-25%. The LC50 of water pretreated with coagulation and walnut shell filtration was 91.9 %, which is much higher than that of NF270 and NF. Considering that inorganics are not completely removed by NF, NF270, and walnut shell filtration, it is possible that the organic toxic compounds, which can be effectively removed only by RO, are able to pass through NF270 and NF membranes but are being efficiently retained by WSF. RO2:Characterize the toxicity and chemical composition at the molecular level of UOG produced water before and after treatment (RO1) using bulk methods and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) for non-targeted analysis of pollutants. To understand the chemical composition of the water used for irrigation and to allow for evaluation of the treatment efficacy, we used a battery of techniques and methods (including EPA standard methods when possible) to characterize the produced water before and after treatment, and before the irrigation experiments described below. Specifically, IC, ICPMS, GCMS, LCMS, GCFID, and acute toxicity testing were used to characterize the unconventional and conventional water before treatment. Then each instrument was used to look at unconventional water that has been treated using 6 different treatment methods (including RO, NF, WSF, and coagulation). We quantified anions and cations, qualitatively assessed the presence of surfactants, quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the presence of organics such as long chain aliphatic compounds, BTEX and PAH, determined total nitrogen, total nonpurgeable carbon, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), and the LC50 and EC50. The conventional and unconventional waters both contained similar inorganic and organic compound classes but varied greatly when it comes to concentrations. The elemental composition showed high levels of sodium ranging from 800 ppm to 10,000 ppm for conventional and unconventional water respectively. Chloride was also found in high levels, ranging from 340 ppm to 22,000 ppm. Other common elements identified include Al, Ba, B, Ca, Fe, Mg, Si, Na, Sr, SO4, and S. BTEX for unconventional produced water ranged from 15.5 ppm to 17 ppm when initially tested. Conventional produced water had BTEX levels of around 0.05 ppm when initially tested. We found polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) including phenanthrene, acenaphthene, and naphthalene derivatives. Surfactants, while they were not determined quantitatively, did show the presence of ethoxylate chains ranging from C10-C18, polypropylene glycols (PPGs), and polyethylene glycols (PEGs). The major difference found between conventional and unconventional are the number of unique formulas in each of the surfactant classes. Conventional water has fewer unique formulas, while unconventional produced water has significantly more unique surfactant formulas identified. When specifically looking at the toxicity of water types before treatment, the conventional water never reached a LC50. The LC50 of the unconventional water ranged from 0.04% to 9% depending on the point of which the water was sampled. The conventional produced water was found to have a low salt and organic content, and no acute toxicity was observed. These results prompted us to set up an irrigation study with untreated conventional produced water (see below) to assess if the water could sustain crop production with no adverse effects. RO3:Identify the impact of treated UOG produced water on soil and crop health using greenhouse-based crop irrigation studies. To advance our current understanding of plant responses to PW (produced water) irrigation-induced abiotic stresses, we evaluated the effects of conventional PW irrigation on wheat plant development in a series of greenhouse pilot trials. For these trials, Utah State University 'Apogee', a hard red spring wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) cultivar that is fast growing, salt tolerant dwarf variety, was used. A fine sandy loam soil and conventional produced water were acquired from Anton, Colorado to grow and irrigate the crop, respectively. Physiological measurements and visual cues from pilot greenhouse experiments indicated that the conventional produced water utilized in this study can support plant development with no discernible physiological changes when compared to tap water. Hence, the following watering regimes were tested in a full-scale greenhouse study: 1) tap water control, 2) undiluted produced water, 3) 50% diluted produced water, 4) salt control with salinity equal to undiluted produced water, and 5) salt control with salinity equal to 50% diluted produced water. Plant height and EC (electrical conductivity) were recorded on days 24, 35, and 54 after planting. Results revealed no significant differences in plant heights between treatments. Results also indicated that the salinity of the control pots decreased over time, whereas the salinity of all other treatments increased. The EC values for the PW50 and SW50 treatments were similar, as were the EC values for the PW100 and SW100 treatments. Overall, the EC of all the treatments remained within the acceptable limits for productive cropland. Leaf tissue samples from all treatments were also obtained 24 days after planting to perform plant metabolomics and microbiome research. RO4:Elucidate the influence of irrigation water quality (UOG produced water treatment level) on the plant metabolome by metabolomics for identification of adverse crop effects. Leaf tissue samples from all treatments described under RO3 (above) were obtained 24 days after planting to perform plant metabolomics and microbiome research. This part of the study will be initiated in January 2022, when we will collect the remaining samples to evaluate the effect of PW irrigation on grain yield, soil health, soil microbiome, and plant metabolomics.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Robbins, C. A.; Yin, Y.; Hanson, A. J.; Blotevogel, J.; Borch, T.; Tong, T. Mitigating membrane wetting in the treatment of unconventional oil and gas wastewater by membrane distillation: A comparison of pretreatment with omniphobic membrane. Journal of Membrane Science 2022, 645, 120198.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Shariq, L.; McLaughlin, M. C.; Rehberg, R. A.; Miller, H.; Blotevogel, J.; Borch, T., Irrigation of wheat with select hydraulic fracturing chemicals: Evaluating plant uptake and growth impacts. Environ Pollut 2021, 273, 116402.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
McLaughlin, M. C.; McDevitt, B.; Miller, H.; Amundson, K. K.; Wilkins, M. J.; Warner, N. R.; Blotevogel, J.; Borch, T., Constructed wetlands for polishing oil and gas produced water releases. Environ Sci Process Impacts 2021, 23, (12), 1961-1976.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
McDevitt, B.; McLaughlin, M. C.; Blotevogel, J.; Borch, T.; Warner, N. R., Oil & gas produced water retention ponds as potential passive treatment for radium removal and beneficial reuse. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 2021, 23, (3), 501-518.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Thomas Borch, Hannah Miller, Pankaj Trivedi, Erin Sedlacko, Christopher Higgins, Molly McLaughlin, Linsey Shariq, and Jens Blotevogel. Reusing Oil and Gas Produced Water for Agricultural Irrigation. Emcon 2021, 7th International Conference on Emerging Contaminants Virtual Event, September 13-14, 2021.
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