Why are people concerned about CBM produced water?
There are several concerns about coal bed methane development and how to manage the water which is pumped to extract the methane. The quantity of the CBM produced water: The extraction of CBM involves pumping tremendous volumes of water from the saturated coal seam in order to release the water pressure holding the gas in the coal seam. What to do with the huge volume of often marginal-quality CBM produced water is a source of much debate. Each well is expected to produce 5 to 20 gallons of water per minute. At 12 gallons per minute, a total of 17,280 gallons of water per day may come from one well. It is common to have to have one well every 80 acres. In the Powder River Basin, there are up to three methane-bearing coal seams; therefore, there may be three wells per 80 acres. The quality of CBM produced water and its effect on soil and plants: Coalbed methane product water has a modestly high salinity hazard and often a very high sodium hazard based on standards used for irrigation su
