Does fracking a well to generate huge amounts of crude oil and natural gas so we can drive our cars and heat our homes take a lot of water?
You bet.
Add up all the water we use across the country for fracking. It’s a lot. However, we use more than that for irrigating golf courses or watering the lawns at our homes.
Compared to what?
Rigzone gives some perspective: Hydraulic Fracturing: Staying Afloat in Times of Tightening Water Supply:
Here is some data on how much water is used for two different purposes:
- 0.3% – percent of all freshwater used for fracking all wells in the country during a year
- 0.5% – portion of all freshwater to irrigate all golf courses
How about just the state of Texas? Here is the share of water usage in the state:
- 1% – portion of water used for fracking
- 18% – watering lawns in the state
Here is some info on the water usage for wells in different fields:
- 4.4M gallons – Pennsylvania on average
- 3M – 5M – Marcellus Shale
- 4.5M – Eagle Ford