A Message From State Sen. Tim Solobay

When energy companies developed new technology for extracting natural gas from underground shale deposits, it opened a new economic frontier for Pennsylvania communities.
 
At the same time, hydraulic fracturing brought concerns about handling the large amount of water used in the process. 

The good news is that a local company has come through again for Pennsylvania’s citizens.

Last week, I got a first-hand look at Aquatech International’s new mobile water treatment system, designed to reduce water use and truck traffic by treating and recycling frac water on site.

Called a MoVap, the system was developed at Aquatech’s Canonsburg headquarters and was put on display for a group of public officials and regulators in Fayette County this week. Those who saw it called it a “game changer” for the drilling industry, the first of what are expected to be numerous technological advances to save money and resolve environmental concerns.

The system distills the wastewater into pure water for reuse in the industry, and does it at the site where the water was used.  That should cut down on truck traffic and ease concerns about the ability of local water treatment plants to handle the volume of wastewater created by drilling.

Aquatech is also testing ways of treating acid mine drainage to provide water for the drilling industry, resolving an ages old problem with the newest technology.

I’m proud it’s being done right here in our community.