Eureka Resources LLC has been awarded a U.S. patent on Aug. 24 for its groundbreaking approach to cleansing and recycling wastewater from oil and gas operations.

Hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells can use from 1.5 million gallons to 16 million gallons of water, creating a wastewater stream that is typically disposed of through injection into deep wells. Eureka Resources’ recent patent was awarded for its proprietary technology that can remove hundreds of types of impurities from oil and gas wastewater, isolate recyclable minerals and generate clean water so pure it can be returned to the hydrologic cycle.

“We partner with oil and gas producers to provide an environmentally friendlier solution for their fracking effluent and a cost-effective means to achieve CRSD Certification. This, our third patent, will help accelerate our expansion to other oil and gas plays across the country,” Daniel Ertel, Eureka’s CEO, said. “Not only does our process avoid the underground disposal of contaminated water, it generates pure water that can be used to restore wetlands, replenish depleted waterways or be reused by the oil and gas industry to reduce their draw from freshwater sources.”

In addition to creating pure water, Eureka’s process extracts minerals, such as lithium, salt and calcium chloride, from the wastewater. The company purifies its extracted minerals to exacting standards and markets them to third parties.

“We are one of only a few lithium producers based in the U.S., so we can help America’s lithium battery producers avoid imports for a more-stable supply chain,” Ertel added.

The company has been operating under permits administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Production since 2008, in compliance with U.S. EPA regulations.

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