Tuesday, June 02 - 2009 - 5:16 — tangent
An article written by Dave Cooper in The Edmonton Journal yesterday highlighted the new rules for oilsands companies, this time the focus is on water use. With the recent regulations placed on talings ponds in Alberta’s oilsands, it isn’t a surprise that the ERCB is now putting restrictions on water use.
The funny thing is, is that there is a solution called The Cascade Waste Water System that is an Alberta designed water filtration system. Its main objectives are to recover hydrocarbons and recycle water and return it to the source to be reused. This system is being used worldwide so why isn’t it being used here?
Here is a snippet of the article with a link for the full story below:
Tougher rules for water use in the oilsands are being proposed by the Energy Resource Conservation Board in response to growing public concerns.
Draft regulations, to be released today, call for in-situ operators — which use water and steam to push deep bitumen deposits to the surface — to limit their use of fresh water to 10 per cent of volume and up to 25 per cent of brackish water (if no fresh water is used) from saline groundwater in their operations. The balance must come from recycling.
In-situ operators now use 88.2 million barrels of fresh water every year. The ERCB expects a saving of 220.5 million barrels of fresh water over 10 years at existing, new and expanded facilities.
As well, improved measurement and formal reporting will be required, all subject to inspections and enforcement by the ERCB and Alberta Environment.