Last Update: July 25, 2015
Fracking operations also generate lots of produced water. Often this produced water is contaminated with fracking chemicals of which little is known of the contents. Directly discharging fracking produced water is prohibited by federal law, in the U.S. That means the predominant disposal method is underground injection, or pumping it back underground. The water can be treated and then put to other use, however that entails disposal of material removed from treated water. Some treatment plants cannot remove dissolved salts, which would preclude use of normal publicly owned water treatment plants. [NRDC] [FracFocus]