Fracking typically uses between 1.2 and 3.5 million gal of water per well—large projects use up to 5 million gal. Sourcing these large amounts of water is a problem for the industry. Some companies truck water for use at a large expense; others use local close water sources—ponds, reservoirs, etc. Water transfer companies have used lay-flat hose or ring-lock pipe to transfer the water for short distances. Moving water more than a few miles has been an issue for the industry due to the cost and logistics of moving the equipment after a few fracking jobs.
One customer has 74 fracking jobs in a concentrated area but does not have a close water source to provide the necessary amount of water to support the activities. The timeline for the completion of all 74 fracking jobs is 24 months.
Solution
The customer decided to build a fracking pond in a central location to support its fracking activities. It chose Godwin pumps to move the water from existing sources multiple miles away to the temporary frack pond through HDPE pipe. Godwin selected Godwin Dri- Prime HL250M pumps and 18-in. HDPE pipe for this application. The water supply came from two freshwater ponds approximately one mile apart. One HL250M pump was used at each pond.
The pumps are outfitted with Godwin Field Smart Technology (FST) remote monitoring and control, as well as pressure transducers. The HDPE pipe runs from each pump into a single line and runs more than five miles into a manifold. This directs water into a 40,000-barrel storage tank or into the main frack pond another 1.5 miles away.
Result
The customer is very happy with the success of the project. It can review the pumping data on a phone or through Internet connection and can remotely start and stop the pumps using this technology. The two pumps are only 1.5 miles apart, but due to their remote location, it takes approximately 30 minutes to drive between them. The customer said Godwin’s remote monitoring and control is a great tool that saves it a lot of time and money. The rental period for this project is 24 months, yielding a multimillion-dollar success for Xylem.
