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Water Quality Alert System for Detection of Brine Spills Using Low-Cost Technology

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2017, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Environmental Studies (Voinovich).
Hydraulic fracturing is an industry that has expanded quickly in the United States and around the world. Over the past years, salt waste water from these operations has been injected to the ground. The salt water is not only containing a high amount of salt, it is also containing a mixture of proppants, and other harmful substances which have potential risks and are toxic to public health, wildlife, and the environment. Produced water or waste fluid that came from hydraulic fracturing should be properly handled and disposed to protect the environment and human health. This study is focused on a study of a water quality alert system able to detect brine spills by using a low-cost technology. The water quality alert system is being developed especially in remote areas where it is not always feasible to monitor the quality of the water. The brine spill alert system is based on using Atlas Scientific temperature and conductivity sensors and deploy them downstream of Class II injection wells. The data collection from the probes is transmitted to the Ohio Voinovich campus server using a cellular network to upload the data bundles into the Mongolab cloud database. Testing has demonstrated an accuracy within 5-10% of reading from the calibrated commercial meter in laboratory conditions. Calibration for the EC sensor is necessary for every 5 days; meanwhile, the temperature sensor required a weekly calibration based on field data; however, additional investigation is necessary. Modeling the mixing of fracking fluids with river water using PHREEQCi software demonstrated that a brine spill mixing with a stream in a ratio of 1:99 trigger the alert threshold of 1500 µS/cm during summer and winter seasons.
Natalie Kruse (Advisor)
Dina Lopez (Committee Member)
Hans Kruse (Committee Member)
109 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hj Abd Rahman, S. R. (2017). Water Quality Alert System for Detection of Brine Spills Using Low-Cost Technology [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1493906603892495

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hj Abd Rahman, Siti. Water Quality Alert System for Detection of Brine Spills Using Low-Cost Technology. 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1493906603892495.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hj Abd Rahman, Siti. "Water Quality Alert System for Detection of Brine Spills Using Low-Cost Technology." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1493906603892495

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)