Research

Our research focuses on understanding what is in produced water, how it interacts with the environment, and what technologies can safely clean it. We study water chemistry, treatment performance, environmental health, and potential uses for treated water. By bringing together scientists, industry experts, and community partners, we generate the independent science needed to guide safe, responsible water management in New Mexico. Our goal is to provide the data and solutions that help protect people, land, and water while exploring sustainable reuse options.
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Publications     Presentations      Reference Documents

Testing Locations 

A variety of locations are available to the Consortium for research testing. Locations include the following areas.

Final Project Reports

Pilot-scale treatment systems were constructed and tested in the San Juan and Permian Basins by industry partners with support from the NM PWRC. The reports below summarize the entire research effort, including the objectives, methods, data, results, and conclusions. Each report provides a detailed look at the science and technology behind produced water treatment and reuse. In conjunction with the peer-reviewed publications, they offer a transparent record of the findings that inform policy, guide innovation, and support safe water management in New Mexico.

Scientific Integrity

The Consortium has been designed to ensure independent scientific integrity of the research conducted and the results obtained and published. Specifically, the TSC has been intentionally composed of a diverse set of stakeholders including oil and gas, midstream, other industrial members, members from non-government organizations such as environmental, natural resource, and water use and management associations, state and federal land and resource management groups, and academia. This composition helps to ensure that broad input and discussion of project, plans, and results are considered. NMED and NMSU shall share available data regarding the Project, including reports, task completion progress, reasons for delay of task implementation (if any), and results of Project implementation, with the Membership for review and comment. All TSC members will be expected to recuse themselves from review of any proposal that originates in whole or in part from the TSC member or an affiliate. After review by the Membership, the GAB will then also review with the TSC the review of results and process to ensure full transparency in a project review. After agreement by the TSC and GAB and final approval, the NMED and NMSU shall publish all Project results and make all information available to the public.