Zero Waste Well – the beneficial use of produced water from CSG projects
Paul WybrewSantos Ltd, GPO Box 1010, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia. Email: paul.wybrew@santos.com
The APPEA Journal 59(2) 756-758 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18253
Accepted: 7 March 2019 Published: 17 June 2019
Abstract
Most onshore gas provinces in Australia are in remote locations where it is expensive to bring materials to, and take waste away from, well sites. Importantly, water is not only an input to, and a product of, the drilling, completion, construction and production process, it is also a precious resource. That is why Santos has been working towards the ‘Zero Waste Well’. Historically, separate drilling, completion, construction and operational teams were involved in sourcing and disposing of water without taking a holistic view of the water cycle. By taking a collaborative approach and looking at the complete water cycle, Santos has been able to reduce its water use and eliminate wastewater by reusing all of the produced water in its Queensland coal seam gas upstream activities for beneficial purposes. As part of the Zero Waste Well concept, Santos has identified and implemented a range of initiatives for beneficially reusing produced water. These include stock watering, construction, dust suppression, rehabilitation, and drilling and completion activities. One of the most exciting innovations is to beneficially reuse produced water for localised irrigation. This avoids or minimises the need for large centralised water gathering systems and large static centralised water storages and treatment plants. This also minimises the environmental footprint, energy intensity, carbon emissions and brine wastes from Santos’ activities. Localised irrigation not only reduces construction and operating costs, and engineering design and construction timeframes for Santos, it provides a valuable pasture irrigation source for local landholders.
Keywords: land amendment irrigation, produced water management.
Paul Wybrew is the Manager Environment – Technical, Monitoring and Approvals at Santos where he is responsible for obtaining all State and Commonwealth environmental approvals pertaining to the exploration, development, operation and decommissioning of Santos’ onshore oil and gas facilities and activities. He leads a multi-disciplinary team of technical professionals responsible for undertaking a broad range of environmental studies and assessments as well as implementing Santos’ environmental monitoring programs. Paul graduated from the University of Adelaide (BSc) before moving to Brisbane to work as a consultant environmental geologist. Paul joined Santos in 2009 and has held several positions. A highlight includes the Environmental Impact Assessment and associated stakeholder engagement and community consultation for the Santos GLNG Gas Field Development Project. |
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