In the United States, more than 99% of the produced water generated onshore is managed onsite by the operators (API 2000). Under certain circumstances, however, operators prefer to send their produced water offsite to a commercial disposal facility. This is typically accomplished by having a truck periodically visit the well locations, remove the accumulated water, and haul it away to the destination facilities. Offsite commercial disposal becomes the option of choice when small producers do not want to have the responsibility for constructing, operating, and closing onsite facilities.
Onshore operators who do not have access to nearby formations deemed suitable for accepting produced water through injection wells may also look to offsite disposal. This fact sheet describes the commercial produced water disposal business in the United States. In 2006, Argonne National Laboratory published a report and database describing the network of offsite commercial disposal facilities that accept different types of exploration and production (E&P) wastes (Puder and Veil 2006a,b). Because the Argonne report focuses on costs, this fact sheet, unlike most of the others, contains detailed cost information. The following discussion on offsite commercial disposal options for produced water is based on that report.
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