Produced Water Reclamation Facility at Arroyo Grande Oilfield USA

Veolia Water (France) has signed a design-build-operate contract with Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) for a Produced Water Reclamation Facility at its Arroyo Grande Oilfield in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. The treatment system will incorporate Veolia Water’s OPUS® II technology to generate high-quality water.

Veolia Water will design, build, and operate the 45,000-bpd (barrels per day) facility under a 12-year performance agreement. Under the agreement, Veolia Water will provide operations and maintenance services and performance guarantees on a fixed-fee basis to ensure design performance and high-quality recycled water.

The treated water will provide 25,000 bpd for use as Once Through Steam Generation (OTSG) make-up and 20,000 bpd for surface water discharge, dewatering the Arroyo Grande reservoir. The treatment process produces treated water that meets or exceeds state and federal permit requirements, and the dewatering of the reservoir will result in reduction of formation pressure enabling increased crude oil production at the site.

The OPUS II technology utilises Veolia Water’s CeraMem® ceramic membranes as pretreatment prior to ion exchange and reverse osmosis. Prior to the agreement, the OPUS II process was demonstrated on site in a pilot-scale study for a period of four months.

“This project uses world-class technology that treats produced water to generate high-quality water. As a result, our partnership is creating societal and environmental benefits that we can all be proud of,” said Kirk Schwab, general manager of the Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies business unit in Pittsburgh, where the technology was developed. “This approach demonstrates a shared commitment to responsible development of resources.”