Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 33

Water Quality

New Dangers Found In
Produced Water
By Sara Jerome

Produced
water appears
to contain
two harmful
chemicals that
researchers
previously
did not
know about,
according to a
For more produced water news and analysis, check out Water new study.
Online’s Produced Water Solution Center.
Image credit: “Oil Well,” the great 8 © 2012, used
under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

“Harmful
levels of
ammonium
and iodide
have now been found in wastewater from conventional oil
and gas production plus the more controversial practice
of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking. The chemicals,
pulled up from the earth, arrive at the surface at
concentrations high enough to harm aquatic life and form
cancer-causing compounds when mixed with the chlorine
in tap water,” according to Science News.
The study, published this month in Environmental
Science & Technology, noted the dangers these chemicals
may pose.
“Bromide, iodide, and ammonium in surface waters can
impact stream ecosystems and promote the formation of
toxic brominated-, iodinated-, and nitrogen disinfection
byproducts during chlorination at downstream drinking
water treatment plants. Our findings indicate that
discharge and accidental spills of oil and gas wastewater
to waterways pose risks to both human health and the
environment,” the study said.
Treating produced water may not be enough to make it
safe.
“The researchers found high levels of both ammonium
and iodide in many samples. Even treated wastewater
had levels of ammonium up to 50 times higher than
the maximum levels found to be safe by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,” the report said.
According to the pro-fracking industry group Energy
from Shale, fracking is safe.
“Hydraulic fracturing is safe and well-regulated by federal
and state agencies. The technologies and processes
continue to be improved, guided by industry standards
developed from experiences in the field and which
undergo rigorous review before adoption,” the group says.

FAST FACTS
Did you know?
• Some 2.5 billion people – two-thirds of whom
live in Asia, and a quarter in sub-Saharan Africa –
still use unimproved sanitation facilities and 748
million people are without clean water.
• If you think about it, that’s a sizeable chunk of
the world’s population (more than 7 billion, in case
you are wondering!).
• There’s more: Women and girls are disproportionately
affected.
• How so? The distances travelled, especially in
unprotected areas, to get water and the lack of
safe, private toilets make women and girls more
vulnerable to violence. This can also be an
impediment to girls’ education and takes
time away from income-generating activities.
• Women and girls also bear the main burden
of water collection in developing countries.
In fact, an analysis of 25 countries in sub-Saharan
Africa revealed that 71 per cent of the water
collectors in the region are women and girls, and
just one day women collectively spend an
in

estimated 16 million hours fetching water (men,
6 million in comparison).
• We did the math: 1 million hours = 114 years =
more than a century! Now, times that by 16…

WHAT?!
• The next time you grab a glass of water or walk on
over to the bathroom, remember:
• Sustainable