Challenge: Develop a 2.2 million gallon per day water supply for a fast-tracked $100 million proppant mine in Texas
Solution: A reliable and sustainable water supply is critical to the success of proppant mining operations. In support of this $100 million, fast-tracked project (completed in less than six months) to develop two new proppant mines in west Texas, INTERA evaluated and developed groundwater supplies capable of delivering 2.2 mgd. We performed a groundwater availability analysis based on available geophysical logs and reports, designed an exploratory test program, and then located and supervised the installation and testing of production wells. At both mine sites, 15 production wells were installed. Using results from aquifer step-drawdown tests, INTERA sized the individual pumps for each well. We also developed a groundwater model to evaluate the long-term sustainability of the groundwater resource for different future conditions and to design the transmission system from the well field to a central storage tank.
