STW Water Process & Technologies, a subsidiary of water management and oilfield services company STW Resources Holding Corp. (STW), purchased another brackish water lease in the Ft. Stockton, Texas, area. It is the second lease of several land tracts that are part of the company’s West Texas water project, the parent company said Aug. 18. The project will bring brackish water sources up to potable water standards. The water will be supplied to industrial customers and communities in West Texas.
Currently unusable aquifers in the Southwest will be added to the water lease portfolio as part of the strategy to develop brackish water sources.
The newly purchased lease has artesian (free-flowing) brackish water flowing from the San Andres Formation, which is 2,500 feet (ft) to 3,500 ft below the surface. Several of the eight water wells have produced about 1 million to 2.5 million gallons per day (gal/d) for more than 40 years, Pecos County water authorities said. STW’s proprietary Hybrid Brackish Reverse Osmosis System will process the water before it is sold. Ft. Stockton’s freshwater supplies will not be disturbed, STW added.
Initially, 3MMgal/d to 5MMgal/d will be sold within 50 miles of Ft. Stockton and Imperial, Texas. The allowable limit could exceed 30MMgal/d from this particular water lease and surrounding sources after a pipeline is completed. The proposed pipeline will be owned by STW and investors, and will be between 60 and 93 miles north of Ft. Stockton. The pipeline was proposed as part of the West Texas water project, the company added.
STW said the pursuit of the Capitan Reef Aquifer water on the Ft. Stockton lease is advancing, but there is a temporary moratorium on the production and sale of Capitan Reef water until the Texas Water Development Board completes a hydrogeological (report detailing how much water can be produced from the aquifer. The time frame for lifting the moratorium ranges between December 2015 or January 2016, and in the meantime the lease is intact, the company said.
The company plans to finish drilling Well #2, obtain a obtain a production permit and begin selling water from the lease. The Middle Pecos County Groundwater Conservation District established production amounts. The production could be up to about 2MMgal/d.
Each well could cost about $3 million, and a brackish water processing plant could cost about $1 million. Stanley Weiner, CEO of STW Resources, said the number of wells to be drilled will depend on the amount of water that can be produced from each well.
He added that the project has the potential to save the West Texas communities from potential drought problems for years to come.
STW Resources Holding Corp. is based in Midland, Texas.
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