The Produced Water Society is a collection of engineers and industry professionals with the common purpose to study and improve the separation, treatment, and analysis of Offshore and Onshore Produced Water with the goal to meet the discharge and reinjection requirements of the industry and the environment.


The organization meets every January for its annual conference. A portion of the proceeds from the proceedings go to a graduate student at the University of Akron who is working on Research on Produced Water. Each year the student or his or her professor reports to Society on their progress.

We focus on the following areas of study:

FILTRATION –

There are many types of filters used to remove solids and oil from the produced water process stream ranging from large particle removal to the filtration of ultra fine particles by means of nano filtration, reverse osmosis and ceramic membranes.  Determining the right filter for the task at hand is one goal of the Produced Water Society.

SEPARATION - 

All upstream oil field production facilities uses HP, MP & LP Separators to separate gas from oil and water and then water from the oil. The water from this process must be cleaned and conditioned prior to discharge into the sea or reinjection back into the ground.  Separation is carried out by mechanical with chemical assistance using heater treaters, flash tanks, gun barrels, hydrocyclones and flotation equipment.

WATER CHEMISTRY –

Produced Water is a very unique fluid.  It is oxygen starved, and when mixed with oxygen results in chemical reactions that can form scale, bacteria and corrosion products.  It may contain dissolved solids such as fatty acids, BTEX and salts that have to be treated.  Field (not lab) testing is required for accurate results.

CHEMICALS –

In addition to the mechanical methods of removing water  from oil and vice versa, a variety of oil field chemical are used to treat the fluids to improve the separation process.  At each Annual Conference, all participants share innovative practices on how to deal with scale, emulsion, corrosion, bacteria paraffin’s, wax and many other contaminants.

REGULATIONS –

Like all industries, produced water is tightly regulated to insure the safety of both man and the environment.  Produced water discharged into the seas, lakes or rivers has a much stronger set of regulations vs. water that is reinjected back into the formation.  Onshore regulations is set by State and Federal legislation but also by self governing of the oil producers At the PWS, we help our members keep up with all state and federal regulations.