20 miles of 24″ pipe from Odessa’s reclamation plant to one of Pioneer Natural Resources water supply facilities
Pioneer Natural Resources Company says the start-up of a 20-mile, $25 million infrastructure project will save water and cut costs for both the company and the City of Odessa.
“This is the right thing to do for the environment, and it really is a win-win for the residents of Odessa and Pioneer,” said Timothy L. Dove, Pioneer’s president and COO.
The project is the key component of an 11-year, $117 million agreement between Pioneer Natural Resources and Odessa to provide Pioneer with millions of gallons of treated municipal wastewater for use in its operations. In return, the region will see a reduction in truck traffic and a regular revenue stream.
“Pioneer is able to reduce the need for potable water in a drought-prone area while compensating Odessa for effluent water that would otherwise go to waste,” said Dove.
Water is mixed with sand and other components to create a slurry used during hydraulic fracturing. Utilizing effluent water for this purpose reduces the need for freshwater and makes productive use of a non-potable resource.
“Water is critical to Pioneer’s drilling operations, and having a diversity of supply is very important,” said Stephen McNair, president of Pioneer Water Management, LLC.
“The investment in infrastructure makes sense on many fronts. There’s the freshwater conservation benefit as well as the ability to lessen traffic congestion, given that Pioneer Natural Resources will no longer have to solely rely on trucked deliveries of water to drilling sites.”
PWM constructed 20.3 miles of 24-inch polyethylene pipe with a two-inch wall thickness from Odessa’s Bob Derrington Water Reclamation Plant in Midland County to one of its water supply facilities.
It is designed to flow 150,000 barrels of water per day (BWPD) at 120 PSI, though the system will have a maximum flow of 200,000 BWPD at 150 PSI at peak capacity.
“We are grateful to Odessa Mayor David Turner, the City Council and City Manager Richard Morton for their dedication to this project,” said Dove. “It serves as a model for our industry and the Permian Basin.”
A ceremony to officially turn the valve on the project occurred at the Derrington plant on Jan. 20.