OPTIMIZING INDUSTRIAL WATER SYSTEMS IN HYDROCARBON COMMUNITIES:COMPARATIVE INSIGHTS FROM OFFSHORE AND ONSHORE OPERATIONS

Abstract

Produced water (PW), often labelled as the oil and gas industry's ‘silent threat,’ can damage ecosystems and human well-being when left untreated. In this context, the strategic management of PW emerges as a pivotal necessity within the oil and gas sector, aiming to mitigate potentially catastrophic consequences. This paper explores contemporary trends in PW management while pioneering a visionary path forward through an Energy-Water-Food Nexus approach, which contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The minerals industry interacts with water in many different ways that can affect the environment and communities. Urban water services, including drinking water supply and wastewater treatment, are highly energy dependent, contributing to the challenges described under the water-energy nexus. Both future climate change and decentralized water system adoptions can potentially influence the energy use of the urban water services. However, the trend and the extent of such influences have not been well understood. Better connections will increase the likelihood that mining companies will respect human rights, avoid or mitigate adverse social and environmental risks that occur through their interaction with water and collaboratively identify water-related development opportunities. The role that deficient institutional relationships have played in aggravating drinking water incidents over the last 30 years has been identified in several inquiries of high profile drinking water safety events, peer-reviewed articles and media reports. These indicate that collaboration between water utilities and public health agencies (PHAs) during normal operations, and in emergencies, needs improvement. Assessment of contaminants in source water systems with inputs from industrial discharge, sewage treatment plants, storm water systems and runoff from urban and agricultural land is critical to formulating remediation of contaminants strategies for specific application.