The US oil boom is being driven mostly by the growth of fracking, but much of that oil and natural gas is found in places where water needed for the process is scarce. Now, two Texas towns are selling most of their municipal waste water to oil companies.
The US oil boom is being driven mostly by the growth of fracking — injecting water into shale formations to free up deposits of oil and natural gas that were never economically accessible before.But much of that oil and natural gas is found in the most arid parts of the country, where water is scarce."We're in the middle of desert," said Jerry Morales, mayor of Midland, Texas, ground zero for the fracking boom."And two years ago we came out of a seven-year drought.
The 21 million gallons of water Pioneer uses on a typical day would be enough to fill 42 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Lithgow said very little of the water it uses is fit for human consumption. Besides the waste water, most of the well water it uses comes from deep aquifers that produce a brackish water not suitable for drinking. Midland, Texas: America's ultimate boomtownDuring the collection of oil and gas, Pioneer collects about 21 million gallons of water.
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