Ecosphere Water Treatment Increases Gas Well Productivity, Revenue

The use of Ecosphere Technologies’ patented Ozonix technology in water treatment for the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells results in broadly greater productivity than liquid chemical biocide treatment, according to a report commissioned by the technology licensing and manufacturing company.

The findings are reported in a free technical paper, Statistical and Bottom Line Comparisons of Gas Production Yielded by using the Patented Ecosphere Ozonix Technology Versus Chemical Biocide for the Hydraulic Fracturing of Natural Gas Wells, released by Ecosphere and Fidelity National Environmental Solutions, a company in which Ecosphere holds a 31 percent interest.

The report focuses on an extensive three-year study, which compares the magnitude of gas production yielded by two distinctly different methods currently being implemented for treating water to control bacteria, scale, microbiologically induced corrosion, and biofilms associated with the hydraulic fracturing process of natural gas wells.

The study of 155 natural gas wells, prepared by Optimal Data Analysis, assessed the comparative efficacy of water treatment methods for 96 wells treated using Ecosphere’s patented Ozonix technology versus 59 wells treated using liquid chemical biocide in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas. The study relied on public information filed with the State of Arkansas.

In addition to the finding that the use of Ecosphere’s Ozonix technology in water treatment for fracking resulted in greater productivity, the report also found that Ozonix resulted in greater overall gas production achieved in the first two months of post-fracturing operations, and consistently greater gas production and monetary returns across all 12 months of post-fracturing operations.

Specifically, as compared with chemical biocide water treatment methods and based on the current market price of gas, the use of Ecosphere’s Ozonix technology returns $24.9 million in incremental revenue per year for 100 gas wells, $124.8 million in additional revenue per year for 500 gas wells, and $249.7 million in additional revenue per year for 1,000 gas wells.

Wastewater treatment spending for fracking is expected to grow almost three-fold, from $138 million in 2014 to $357 million in 2020, according to a report published earlier this month by Bluefield Research.