When it comes to "fracking" – or hydraulic fracturing – our products are being used in sustainable ways by both the energy companies and environmental regulators. Fracking involves shooting pressurized water deep down into the earth to release natural gas trapped inside the rock layer. With conventional oil reserves dwindling, fracking has come into favor with energy companies and under scrutiny from an environmental perspective.
Xylem provides equipment to the energy companies that makes the fracking process less environmentally invasive. Our portable Godwin pumps and temporary pipeline systems replace trucks as the means of transport for the clean "fracking water." By pumping instead of trucking, fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion in the small communities around the fracking sites are all lowered.
We also provide analytical instruments to measure the quality of nearby surface and ground water supplies. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission has established a 50-station remote water quality monitoring network – featuring Xylem instruments – to provide continuous, real-time data on local streams and rivers and provide the public with transparency about how fracking is impacting the water quality of the basin.