Fracking

WQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, IndianaWQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, Indiana
Testing Water Quality in
Gas Fracking Regions
Presented by Ivars Jaunakais

2WQA Aquatech USA 2013 • Indianapolis, Indiana
Testing Water Quality in Gas Fracking Regions
“Anyone who tells you there are not
profound risks in drilling shale for
natural gas is misleading you.
But anybody who tells you there are
not extreme benefits is doing the
same thing.”
The End of Country - Seamus McGraw, 2011

What is Fracking?
3
Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing,” the
catch-all term used to describe the process of
extracting oil and natural gas from shale rock
formations deep underground.

What is Fracking?
Fracking blasts a mixture of water, sand and
chemicals at underground shale to release the
gas or oil captured in the rock.
This form of natural gas drilling has potential for
groundwater contamination.
4

5
Fracking Illustrated

Fracking Illustrated
6

Fracking is a growing industry
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In the United States, residents living
near fracked gas wells have filed over 1,000
complaints regarding tainted water and
recently, the
EPA Connected 'Fracking' To Water
Contamination.

What the frack?
•  New Study Confirms Fracking Chemicals
have caused Water Contamination
•  Pennsylvania is at the forefront of this subject
after a recent study was released showing
fracking is very possibly the cause of
contaminated drinking water
•  The natural gas companies are fighting back
and claim that fracking deep in the ground
can not cause contamination

Fracking areas in the US
10

Why Water Quality Testing is Vital
•  There are no regulations or laws that require
water testing if your house is served by a
private water source (well / ground water)
•  Water testing for public water supply is
required by law. Routinely testing of the
water is done and water must meet USEPA
water quality standards
•  Fracking is done in rural areas where private
wells are principal water source
11

Why Water Quality Testing is Vital
12
•  A loophole in the 2005 Energy Bill
exempts gas drillers from EPA
guidelines like the Clean Water Act
•  A water's taste, smell, or color is not
necessarily an indicator of water quality
•  Many hazardous contaminants are
undetectable to the senses and can
only be detected by testing

Important Water Quality Test
Parameters in Gas Fracking Regions
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List of Fracking Chemicals
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Fracking Fluid Components by Volume
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Additive Purposes
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Minimum recommended water tests
•  Bacteria
(Total Coliform / E-coli)
•  Barium
•  Bromide
•  Chloride (Salt)
•  Foaming Agents
•  Iron
•  Manganese
•  Methane / Ethane
•  pH
•  Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS)
17

Additional water tests to consider
•  Alkalinity
•  Arsenic
•  Calcium
•  Magnesium
•  Nitrate
•  Strontium
•  Sulfate
•  Total Hardness
•  Zinc
18

Additional water tests to consider
•  Ammonia
•  Gross Alpha Beta
(Radiation)
•  Lead
•  Nickel
•  Potassium
•  Sulfide
•  Uranium
19

Alkalinity
•  A measure of materials in water that can
neutralize acidity
•  Common sources are carbonates and
bicarbonates from bedrock — especially
limestone
•  Higher alkalinity water supplies have high
hardness and/or total dissolved solids which
may cause aesthetic issues.
20

Arsenic
•  Naturally occurring metal also found in
industrial wastes, pesticides and treated
lumber.
•  Water should contain arsenic below the MCL
of 0.010 mg/L to be safe to drink.
•  Higher amounts are carcinogenic and can
cause many other health problems.
•  On-site Arsenic test kit that is USEPA verified
can be used.
21

Barium
•  A metal that occurs naturally in low
concentrations but found in a variety of waste
fluids from gas drilling and other industries
•  Water should be below the MCL of 2.0 mg/L
to be safe to drink due to gastrointestinal
illness, muscular weakness and high blood
pressure.
•  Testing Lab is recommended
22

Bacteria (Total Coliform / E-coli)
•  Bacteria (Coliform) is common in surface
water.
•  Subgroups of fecal coliform or E. coli
bacteria, indicate animal or human waste
contamination
•  Coliform bacteria including fecal coliform
and/or E. coli bacteria should be absent
(MCL <1) to avoid gastrointestinal issues
•  On-site visual Bacteria tests are USEPA
compliant and can be used for testing.
23

Bromide
•  Found abundantly in salt waters, brines, and various
waste fluids
•  Bromide in water can form carcinogens when
chlorine is added to disinfect water
•  On-site Salt (Photometer) test can be used to
determine level or by Testing Lab
24

Chloride (Salt)
•  Naturally occurring salt that occurs at
elevated levels from road salt runoff, gas
drilling and septic systems
•  Water should have less than the MCL of 250
mg/L to avoid salty taste, metal corrosion and
other aesthetic problems
•  On-site Salt test (photometer or salt meter)
can be used or by Testing Lab
25

Gross Alpha Radiation
•  Measure of alpha radiation given off by
naturally occurring radium in water
•  Water should have less than the MCL of 15
pCi/L due to health concerns including some
cancers
•  Requires sophisticated Lab equipment to
determine contamination levels
26

Hardness (Calcium and Magnesium)
•  Naturally occurring minerals that cause grayish or
white scale and other aesthetic water issues
•  No industry standard for testing
•  High hardness causes scale build-up, especially
where water is heated
•  TH is Total Hardness and measures both Calcium
and Magnesium s
•  And Calcium Hardness measures only Calcium
•  On-site photometer test meters are available for both
tests
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Iron
•  Mineral which occurs naturally in the environment or
from disturbances like fracking
•  Causes orange/brown stains and metallic taste
•  Water should contain less than 0.3 mg/L due to
aesthetic problems
•  On-site photometer test kits available for test
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Manganese
•  Another Mineral that occurs naturally in the
environment
•  Causes black stains or sediment and metallic taste
•  Water should contain less than 0.5 mg/L due to
aesthetic problems
•  On-site photometer test kits are available for test
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Methane / Ethane
•  Naturally occurring or from fossil fuels, animal
manure, biomass decomposition or landfills.
•  Cause bubbling noise in well, spurting faucets, white
gas bubbles in water
•  No testing standard
•  Vented well caps suggested when levels exceed 7 to
10 mg/L and aeration suggested above 28 mg/L
•  Lab testing is recommended
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Nitrate-N
•  Common nutrient found > 1.0 mg/L in pristine
groundwater and streams
•  Increased levels (above 3 mg/L) from fertilizer,
animal wastes, and septic systems
•  Water should be under the MCL of 10 mg/L
•  Nitrate-N causes health concerns related to blue-
baby disease
•  On-site photometer test kits can give levels in 10
minutes
31

pH
•  An important measure of water quality. Low pH
causes corrosion of metal plumbing components
while high pH causes taste issues
•  Water should have a balanced pH between the 6.5
and 8.5 to avoid aesthetic problems like metal
corrosion and poor tasting water
•  On-site testing can be done by pH meter or pH
photometer test kit
32

Sulfate
•  A common, naturally occurring constituent of water.
•  High sulfates originate from bed-rock or fracking
activity
•  Water should contain less than 250 mg/L due to
aesthetic effects
•  On-site photometer test kit is available for test
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Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
•  A measure of dissolved inorganic & organic
substances, acceptable levels for human drinking
water is 100 mg/l
•  High levels caused by natural minerals (like
hardness) or pollution from various environmental
activities
•  TDS levels can indicate increased levels of toxic
substances
•  Gives water a salty or metallic taste
•  On-site TDS meter is available for test
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Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
•  A measure of the visible sediment and parti-cles in
the water due to soil, metals, etc
•  Causes cloudiness to water. No standard for TSS
but there is a MCL for Turbidity of 1 NTU
•  On-site Turbidity meters can do test
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Zinc
•  Zinc can be introduced into water naturally by
erosion of minerals from rocks and soil
•  High natural levels of zinc in water are usually
associated with higher concentrations of other
metals such as lead and cadmium
•  High levels of zinc can lead to stomach cramps,
nausea and vomiting
•  Water with a zinc concentration of more than 5 mg/L
becomes chalky in appearance with a detectable
deterioration in taste
•  On-Site photometer test kits are available to do test
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When to monitor your tap water?
•  Test early to establish a baseline for certain
markers of tap water, stream or watershed
health. Document location, time, date carefully.
•  Fracking wastewater includes salt brine and
metals - take pH and TDS readings when
collecting samples.
•  Measure TDS – which will rise dramatically when
streams are contaminated with fracking
wastewater
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Now YOU can professionally test
Water Quality at home
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The ultimate water
quality tester

•  Lab quality accuracy at
minimal cost
•  Handheld and uses a easy
safe procedure
•  Dual wavelength (525 nm & 638)
•  Battery operation allows
portable field/on-site testing
•  Directly reads over 35 water
quality parameters with
memory storage
•  Waterproof
Features

•  US Patented test
method that uses a
waterproof colorimeter
with a “cell” or cuvette
permanently welded
into the meter
•  Plastic cell replaces
glass cells to reduce
breakage
Features

Simple and patented test procedure
•  The US Patent in addition covers the
colorimetric reagents delivery method by a
test strip (eXact Micro Strip), which adds
reagent(s) into the “cell” when dipped for 20
seconds

Rinse cell three times with water sample to be
tested and fill cell to capacity.
Simple test procedure (Total Hardness)

Place cap over cell and press
ON/ZERO Button to Zero Meter

Insert Reagent Test Strip into Cell and Press READ. Meter
begins 20-second countdown and during countdown, move
strip back & forth to add colorimetric reagent.

Remove and discard strip. Add cell cap and meter will
automatically continue to the read and store in memory.
Total Hardness result is 127 ppm (7.4 gpg) as CaCO3
( 17.1 ppm = 1gpg )

Micro 20 List of Tests
• Alkalinity, Total (525 nm)
• Aluminum (638 nm)
• Ammonia (638 nm)
• Biguanide (683 nm)
• Bromine (DPD-1) (525 nm)
• Chloride (as NaCl) II (638 nm)
• Chlorine Dioxide (DPD-1) (525 nm)
• Chlorine, Free (DPD-1) (525 nm)
• Chlorine, High Range Free (525 nm)
• Chlorine, Total (DPD-3)** (525 nm)
• Chlorine, Total (DPD-4) (525 nm)
• Chromium (VI) (525 nm)
• Copper (Cu+2) (525 nm)
• Cyanide (638 nm)
• Cyanuric Acid II (638 nm)
• Fluoride (638 nm)
• Hydrogen Peroxide LR (525 nm)
• Total Hardness (as CaCO3) (525 nm)
• Total Iron, TPTZ (638 nm)
• Manganese (525 nm)
• Nitrate (as NO3) (525 nm)
• Nitrite (as NO2) (525 nm)
• Ozone (DPD-4) (525 nm)
• Peracetic Acid (DPD-4) (525 nm)
• Permanganate (DPD-1) (525 nm)
• pH (525 nm)
• pH, BT (638 nm) - Salt Water Drops
• pH, BT (638 nm) - Regular water
• Phosphate (638 nm)
• Quaternary Ammonia (638 nm)
• Sulfate (638 nm)
• Sulfide (638 nm)

Recommendations
•  Test private home well water every 6 months
•  Find unbiased sources and stay informed about fracking
•  Understand the existing Federal, State and Local regulations, including the
testing that might be done on well water supplies
•  Save copies of all results from water tests performed on each Well and be
sure they are documented properly for Date, Time of day, Test Method,
Operator of testing the water, Water source with full details of address,,
owner of well, and which faucet was used for sample for the water sample.
The more details the better.
•  On-site photometers should be confirmed that they operate accurately by
using and documenting Ready-Snap Standard test results.
48

Questions?
Industrial Test Systems, Inc.
Ivars@sensafe.com www.sensafe.com

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