Fracking Water -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Update

A personal note to me suggests that these lines are not bringing fracking water in but rather one is an oil pipeline and one is for waste water (salt water/brine) or possibly one is for natural gas. That would make more sense: fracking is a one time event; moving oil and salt water is an on-going task.

Original Post

Probably the number one problem on the highways is trucking the water used for fracking.

In the old days, when the wells were spread out that was about the only economical way of doing it.

Now, two things are happening: many, many wells are going to be drilled closer and closer together, and the new pipeline for the Western Area Water Supply is now going in, making it possible for oil companies to tap into this supply for fracking.

Here is a photo of some of that fracking water pipeline that is being laid. This is midway between Alexander, North Dakota, and Williston -- the heart of the Bakken, just to the east of the US Highway 2.

I assume the green pipe is for fresh water for fracking, and the black pipe is for salt water that comes back up during the fracking process.