Double-Walled Containment for a 41/47 Tank: Reuse of Produced Water in Marcellus Shale Operations

The Marcellus shale is a prolific natural gas formation in the Northeastern United States. Due to the regulatory environment, the containment and reuse of gas field water (produced) requires special attention. This project, near Williamsport, PA, involved the containment and reuse of 2,000,000 gallons of produced water for completion operations. The owner, a Marcellus Shale E&P Company, required a double-tank containment system utilizing large, prefabricated bucket liners along with a conductive geotextile for leak detection.

Solution

To ensure durability and compliance, the owner selected Layfield to prefabricate and install our Enviro Liner® geomembrane, supported by Geovolt® conductive geotextile for electrical leak testing. For the project, Layfield supplied prefabricated bucket liners and stepped panels with the following dimensions:

• Geovolt®: 190’ x 190’ prefabricated panel
• 16 oz Non-Woven Geotextile: 177’ x 177’ prefabricated panel
• LLDPE 40 mil Enviro Liner®: 168’ x 168’ prefabricated bucket liner
• LLDPE 40 mil Enviro Liner®: 156’ x 156’ prefabricated bucket liner

Challenges & Results

Deploying the large, prefabricated bucket liners was a skilled process, requiring precision and time. Layfield’s detailed deployment instructions proved invaluable, resulting in no repairs for the three Enviro Liner® bucket liners. A third-party conducted the Electrical Leak Test (ELT).  The Geovolt® was spark-tested beneath the primary liner before any produced water was added to the containment system. The 2,000,000-gallon containment system was successfully commissioned using Layfield’s specialty geosynthetics and world-class fabrication facilities in Lakeside, California.