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Permalink Reply by TheCommish on January 20, 2011 at 11:17

JP- there are several areas in South Caddo that have Wilcox water in the 300-400 ppm Cl range.  The Na seems too high... especially for that Cl level.  Can you post the entire contents of your analysis here? 

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Permalink Reply by JP on January 20, 2011 at 11:28

Sodium 394 mg/L

Chloride 414 mg/L

Conductance at 25C = 2240 umhos/cm

 

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Permalink Reply by TheCommish on January 20, 2011 at 12:22

The Chloride is 414, Sodium is 394, that is a Na/Cl ratio of 0.952.  Generally oilfield brine (produced water) has a Na/Cl ratio around 0.60. 

 

The conductance is an indirect measurement of TDS, total dissolved solids (which means minerals).  TDS is generally one-half conductance, give or take. So your TDS is probably around 1000 ppm.  The Na and CL total 808 ppm (nearly the same as mg/L).  You likely have some other minerals, such as sulfates, carbonates or bicarbonates, as well. 

 

This does not appear to me to be oilfield related.  It seems more indicative of depletion of the aquifer, as an aquifer is pumped down the mineralized water will become more pronounced. 

 

In any case, these levels of Na and Cl will not hurt you, and should not be apparent by taste. If the water has an off-taste you likely have sulfates, or bacterial contamination. 

 

Hope this helps... it's sure a lot cheaper than what the analyses cost!

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Permalink Reply by JP on January 20, 2011 at 12:46

Chlorides MAX limit is 250.  Above 300 is unsutable for cattle.  Not sure where you are getting your information. 

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Permalink Reply by JP on January 20, 2011 at 12:58

Also the GPG was 0.4 and the hardness was 7,  Very soft water. Sulfates <3, carbonates 11.5

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Permalink Reply by TheCommish on January 21, 2011 at 3:16

JP you do have very soft water... and sulfates are negligible, so any taste issues with the water are likely the sodium (which creates the salty taste) in the 200-400 ppm range.

 

Chlorides is a secondary drinking water standard set by EPA, the aesthetic limit is 250 ppm.  EPA has not set a regulatory limit for Cl in drinking water, as it only affects taste and does not adversely affect health of consumers.  I can show you towns across the desert Southwest where municipal water supplies provide water in the 500-1200 ppm Cl range.  Cattle can drink water up to 10,000 TDS with no ill effect, although they may not prefer it. Trust me on this. 300 ppm Cl is good water in most of the country. My vote is aquifer depletion due to overpumping, limited aquifer extent, poor recharge due to relative drought, but I do not see oilfield contamination on these numbers.

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Permalink Reply by The_Baron on January 21, 2011 at 5:31

+1 to what Commish has been saying.

 

from the World Health Organization:

 Short-term exposure
The toxicity of chloride salts depends on the cation present; that of chloride itself is unknown. Although excessive intake of drinking-water containing sodium chloride at concentrations above 2.5 g/litre has been reported to produce hypertension (12), this effect is believed to be related to the sodium ion concentration.

EFFECTS ON HUMANS
A normal adult human body contains approximately 81.7 g chloride. On the basis of a total obligatory loss of chloride of approximately 530 mg/day, a dietary intake for adults of 9 mg of chloride per kg of body weight has been recommended (equivalent to slightly more than 1 g of table salt per person per day). For children up to 18 years of age, a daily dietary intake of 45 mg of chloride should be sufficient (4). A dose of 1 g of sodium chloride per kg of body weight was reported to have been lethal in a 9-week-old child (8).
Chloride toxicity has not been observed in humans except in the special case of impaired sodium chloride metabolism, e.g. in congestive heart failure (13). Healthy individuals can tolerate the intake of large quantities of chloride provided that there is a concomitant intake of fresh water. Little is known about the effect of prolonged intake of large amounts of chloride in the diet. As in experimental animals, hypertension associated with sodium chloride intake
appears to be related to the sodium rather than the chloride ion (4).

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Permalink Reply by The_Baron on January 21, 2011 at 5:37

also:

 

CONCLUSIONS

Chloride concentrations in excess of about 250 mg/litre can give rise to detectable taste in

water, but the threshold depends upon the associated cations. Consumers can, however,

become accustomed to concentrations in excess of 250 mg/litre. No health-based guideline

value is proposed for chloride in drinking-water.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Blake on January 20, 2011 at 11:57

Jack Blake says if they screwed up your water well to sue the beejeeeeeeeeezzzus out of them!! $7,500.00 for the cost of drilling your water well is nothing comparing to what they owe you if they screwed up your aquifer.

Do you have any sample results from your water well before the gas well was drilled?

 

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Permalink Reply by JP on January 20, 2011 at 12:01

I have a basic water sample test (water softner analysis results), but not a lab certified test with chain of custody.  So the results are arguable, if not invalid.  Who thinks to pay $300 for a water analysis test on your well just for you private records? 

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Permalink Reply by buckmaster on January 20, 2011 at 12:13

check and see if there are any public water systems in your area. they have to have their water tested every year and they would have records of their test.

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Permalink Reply by dbob on January 20, 2011 at 17:41

I gotta gotta go with the Commish on this.  The information you've provided so far doesn't suggest someone has polluted the aquifer.  The TDS may be different than it has in the past, but it appears to be in a safe range.  

 

Do you have a well log for your water well, or depth information?  

 

Next up, did they frac the gas well with well water, or with surface water?  Fracing uses a lot more water than drilling, so if they had several frac supply wells near you, it might  have dropped the groundwater level in your area some. 

 

Finally, have you tried any of the simple chlorination procedures for water supply wells?  Most simply involve using NSF listed household bleach (no fragrance, no additives, just bleach) at rates specific to your well conditions, then flushing.  This can take care of many common taste and odor issues.  Again, relatively cheap.

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