​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Produced water from natural gas wellsites is either trucked or piped to saltwater injection wells (SWD) for disposal. Truck traffic, like the amount of water produced from wells, drops significantly in a relatively short amount of time. After three months of production, less than one truck per day per well is needed to carry water to a SWD well and that number continues to decline over the life of a well.After three months of production, less than one truck per week per well is normally needed to carry water offsite and the volume of water continues to decline during the life of the well.
When used, the pipelines used to transport produced water are made of corrosion-resistant polyethylene and are nearly an inch thick. Pipeline segments are fused together to maximize leak protection, making the seams the strongest portion of the pipe. Sensors are installed at no less than every mile to monitor the flow of water through the pipeline, while state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) controls can shut down the pipeline flow immediately from a remote location, should a change in flow be detected.​
Strategically located SWD wells can also help reduce the miles trucks must travel in order to dispose of produced water. Since trucks must be used to transport produced water from wellsites to disposal locations, the number and location of SWD wells has a direct bearing on the number of vehicle miles traveled for natural gas production. Strategically located disposal wells would lessen truck traffic and reduce emissions, traffic noise, traffic congestion and road repairs. This would result in a smaller impact to air quality and increased road safety for the people of West Virginia.​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​