Whats all this water well hydrofracturing about and what are the risks?

Recently in New Jersey it was reported accourding to the huffington post that fracking has been banned in New Jersey but please understand that this is in regards to the oil and gas industry and is not applicable to water wells. We have had a few calls brought to our attention about this even though it is outside off our service area. WE wanted to ammend this post in an effort to clear the confusion up.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/new-jersey-fracking-ban-chris-christie_n_1197075.html

One of the most common calls I receive as a Water well Professional is what is Hydro fracture and what is it all about? Now by this I am not just referring to hydro-fracture by definition only but what applications indicate that it would be successful. This article is an attempt to help consumers make an educated decision when deciding  to Fracture or not to fracture. I will begin by saying that this understanding can vary greatly throughout the industry.

Hydraulic fracturing

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Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. This petroleum engineering method has been used over the past 60 years in more than one million wells by the worldwide natural gas and oil exploration and production industry to create fractures that extend from a wellbore drilled into targeted rock formations to enhance oil and natural gas recovery.

The Hydro fracture process was originally adapted from the oil and gas industry. Now the process of hydro fracture itself is somewhat difficult to explain. The process is intended to be used under certain applications if the lithology of the well indicates that such a process would be fruitful. The process begins by dropping in a balloon like packer into the hole sealing off a portion of the well in question and blowing water in at a high force in an attempt to break free some of the cracks or breaks in the rock in an effort to achieve more water and flow. Now the number one most important factor when deciding weather or not to frac would be studying the well report to get a greater understanding of the wells lithology. Now if a Report is not available the technician may drop a down hole camera into the well to see if the lithology is apparent for a fruitful fracture.

Now this information can typically be supplied by the driller, the town or the state. Now if you are unable to obtain the original report then the Hydrofracture technician would be going in blind and it could result in being a total waste of money if the conditions are not just right.

For a successful hydro fracture the water professional is looking for multiple breaks or fractures in the lithology of the rock. These breaks or fractures is where the water runs into the well. If the well has minimal fractures or unknown lithology then the success rate of the hydro fracture would be effected.

We now know what hydro fracture is and when it should be used but their are many risk factors that should also be taken into consideration. If you have a well with severe manganese, iron and sediment their is a large chance of these problems worsening post fracture. Another risk would be if neighboring wells share the same fracture in the rocks then their wells could be effected. In very rare cases loss of water or collapse can also be a risk factor.

The typical change of flow after fracturing on average is a gallon or two. Now not to say that i have not seen 30 Gallon a minute changes by the odds are typically against this extream of a result. Another major question i am asked is can i loose flow by hydro fracturing and the answer would undoubtedly be yes however its rare. Hydro fracture can absolutely be beneficial under circumstances that indicate that a fracture would be fruitful. Hydro fracture at any rate is a gamble the question would be if you are feeling lucky or not.

This article was written by Ashley Connolly of Northeast Water Wells Inc for further information go to www.wellguy.com