Injection well

An injection well is a device that places uid deep un-

derground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone
or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer. The
uid may be water, wastewater, brine (salt water), or wa-
ter mixed with chemicals.
[1]
1 Denition
The EPA' Underground Injection Control denes an in-
jection well as a bored, drilled, or driven shaft, or a dug
hole that is deeper than it is wide, or an improved sink-
hole, or a subsurface uid distribution system.
[1]
Its construction depends on the injection uid injected
and depth of the injection zone. Deep wells inject-
ing hazardous wastes or carbon dioxide deep below the
Earths surface have multiple layers of protective cas-
ing and cement, whereas shallow wells injecting non-
hazardous uids into or above drinking water sources are
simply constructed.
[1]
2 Applications
Injection wells are used for many purposes.
2.1 Waste disposal
In waste water disposal, treated waste water is injected
into the ground between impermeable layers of rocks to
avoid polluting fresh water supplies or adversely aect-
ing quality of receiving waters. Injection wells are usually
constructed of solid walled pipe to a deep elevation in or-
der to prevent injectate frommixing with the surrounding
environment.
[1]
Injection wells are widely considered to be the best
method for disposal of treated waste water. Unlike out-
falls or other direct disposal techniques, injection wells
utilize the earth as a lter to further clean the treated
wastewater before it reaches the receiving water. This
method of waste water disposal also serves to spread the
injectate over a wide area, further decreasing environ-
mental impacts.
Critics of waste water injection wells cite concerns re-
lating to the injectate polluting receiving waters.
[2]
Most
environmental engineering professionals, however, con-
sider waste water treatment followed by disposal through
injection wells to be the most cost eective and environ-
mentally responsible method of waste water treatment.
The only known alternatives to injection wells are direct
discharge of treated waste water to receiving waters or
utilization of the treated water for irrigation. Direct dis-
charge does not disperse the water over a wide area; the
environmental impact is focused on a particular segment
of a river and its downstream reaches or on a coastal wa-
terbody. Extensive irrigation is often prohibitively expen-
sive and requires ongoing maintenance and large electric-
ity usage.
Since the early 1990s, Maui County, Hawaii has been en-
gaged in a struggle over the 3-5 million gallons per day of
wastewater that it injects below the Lahaina sewage treat-
ment plant, over the claim that the water was emerging in
seeps that were causing algae blooms and other environ-
mental damage. After some twenty years, it was sued
by environmental groups after multiple studies showed
that more than half the injectate was appearing in nearby
coastal waters. The judge in the suit rejected the Countys
arguments, potentially subjecting it to millions of dol-
lars in federal nes. A 2001 consent decree required
the county to obtain a water quality certication from the
Hawaii Department Of Health, which it failed to do until
after the suit was led.
[3]
2.2 Oil and gas production
Another use of injection wells is in natural gas and
petroleum production. Steam, carbon dioxide, water, and
other substances can be injected into an oil-producing
unit in order to maintain reservoir pressure, heat the oil or
lower its viscosity, allowing it to ow to a producing well
nearby.
[4]
See also Enhanced oil recovery and Hydraulic
fracturing.
2.3 Waste site remediation
Yet another use for injection wells is in environmental
remediation, for cleanup of either soil or groundwater
contamination. Injection wells can insert clean water
into an aquifer, thereby changing the direction and speed
of groundwater ow, perhaps towards extraction wells
downgradient, which could then more speedily and e-
ciently remove the contaminated groundwater. Injection
wells can also be used in cleanup of soil contamination,
for example by use of an ozonation system. Complex
hydrocarbons and other contaminants trapped in soil and
1
2 5 NOTES
otherwise inaccessible can be broken down by ozone, a
highly reactive gas, often with greater cost-eectiveness
than could be had by digging out the aected area. Such
systems are particularly useful in built-up urban environ-
ments where digging may be impractical due to overlying
buildings.
[5]
2.4 Aquifer recharge
Recently the option of relling natural aquifers with in-
jection or percolation has become more important, par-
ticularly in the driest region of the world, the MENA re-
gion (Middle East and North Africa).
[6]
Surface runo can also be recharged into dry wells, or
simply barren wells that have been modied to functions
as cisterns.
[7]
These hybrid stormwater management sys-
tems, called recharge wells, have the advantage of aquifer
recharge and instantaneous supply of potable water at the
same time. They can utilize existing infrastructure and
require very little eort for the modication and opera-
tion. The activation can be as simple as inserting a poly-
mer cover (foil) into the well shaft. Vertical pipes for
conduction of the overow to the bottom can enhance
performance. The area around the well acts as funnel.
If this area is maintained well the water will require little
purication before it enters the cistern.
[8]
3 Regulatory requirements
In the United States, injection well activity is regulated
by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and state governments under the Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA).
[1]
EPA has issued Underground In-
jection Control (UIC) regulations in order to protect
drinking water sources.
[9][10]
The EPA has dened six classes of injection wells. Class
I wells are used for the injection of municipal and in-
dustrial wastes beneath underground sources of drinking
water. Class II wells are used for the injection of uids
associated with oil and gas production, including waste
from hydraulic fracturing. Class III wells are used for
the injection of uids used in mineral solution mining
beneath underground sources of drinking water. Class
IV wells, like Class I wells, are used for the injection of
hazardous wastes but inject waste into or above under-
ground sources of drinking water instead of below. Class
V wells are those used for all non-hazardous injections
that are not covered by Classes I through IV. Examples
of Class V wells include stormwater drainage wells and
septic systemleach elds. Finally, Class VI wells are used
for the injection of carbon dioxide for sequestration, or
long term storage. Currently, there are no Class VI wells
in operation, but 6 to 10 wells are expected to be in use
by 2016.
[11]
4 Injection-induced earthquakes
A July 2013 study by US Geological Survey scientist
William Ellsworth links earthquakes to wastewater injec-
tion sites. In the four years from 2010-2013 the num-
ber of earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater in the
central and eastern United States increased dramatically.
After decades of a steady earthquake rate (average of
21 events/year), activity increased starting in 2001 and
peaked at 188 earthquakes in 2011. USGS scientists have
found that at some locations the increase in seismicity
coincides with the injection of wastewater in deep dis-
posal wells. Injection-induced earthquakes are thought
to be caused by pressure changes due to excess uid
injected deep below the surface and are being dubbed
man-made earthquakes.
[12]
5 Notes
[1] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Washing-
ton, DC (2010-01-22). Basic Information about Injec-
tion Wells.
[2] ProPublica non-prot news agency. New York, NY.
Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us Updated 2014-
04-23.
[3] Federal Judge Rejects Maui County Arguments on La-
haina Plant Violations. Civil Beat. Retrieved 2014-07-
22.
[4] EPA. Washington, DC. Oil and Gas Related Injection
Wells (Class II). Updated 2010-01-22.
[5] EPA. New York, NY (2003-04-17). EPA Announces
Cleanup Plan for Contaminated Soil and Ground Water at
Central Islip Superfund Site. Example of use of ozona-
tion wells for remediation in situ.
[6] H2O magazine (2010-10-16). Strategic reserve by
Anoop K Menon
[7] H2O magazine (2011-05-03). Recharging dry wells. by
Nicol-Andr Berdell
[8] Prototype-Creation (2011-04-20). Recharge wells and
ASR. by Nicol-Andr Berdell
[9] EPA. Washington, DC. Underground Injection Control
Program: Regulations. Updated 2010-01-22.
[10] EPA. Washington, DC (July 2001). Technical Program
Overview: Underground Injection Control Regulations.
Document no. EPA 816-R-02-025.
[11] EPA. Underground Injection Control: Classes of Wells.
Updated 2012-03-06.
[12] USGS. Man-Made Earthquakes Update Updated Jan-
uary 17, 2014.
3
6 References
US Army Environmental Center. Aberdeen Prov-
ing Ground, MD (2002). Deep Well Injection.
Remediation Technologies Screening Matrix and Ref-
erence Guide. 4th ed. Report no. SFIM-AEC-ET-
CR-97053.
7 External links
EPA - Underground Injection Control Program
Deep injection well for disposal of hazardous, industrial and mu-
nicipal wastewater, EPA Class I well
[1]
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
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