CALGARY, AB, Canada, July 28, 2004 (StockWatch) -- Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc. announced it has received a purchase order for the first mobile oil field water treatment system.
Aqua-Pure is in the process of completing the detailed design of a 60 gpm, mobile, mechanical, vapour-recompression-evaporator system for the treatment of oil-field-produced water. The bulk of the major equipment (consisting of approximately 30% of the total capital cost) was ordered last week. The construction of this first unit will be completed by December, after which it will be shipped to the Barnett Shale area of northeast Texas for start-up. Aqua-Pure's local partner in Texas, Fountain Quail Water Management, anticipates the requirement for six more units in the near future.
Development of the Barnett Shale field demands large volumes of high-quality water to produce natural gas (both to drill and complete wells). The region is semi-arid and fresh water is scarce. Large volumes of contaminant wastewater produced during gas production require treatment and/or disposal. Restrictions on wastewater disposal require operators to haul produced wastewater farther and farther away. These supply and disposal restrictions increase the cost of gas production.
Aqua-Pure's mobile system provides a cost-effective and environmentally beneficial solution by cleaning and recycling the produced water. This reduces the demand for freshwater supply and wastewater disposal. Several companies in the region have expressed serious interest in these mobile units. Aqua-Pure anticipates these mobile units could become the industry standard for produced water treatment after the successful demonstration of this first unit.
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