Published: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:09 AM MDT
Times staff report
A facility designed to treat water produced in oil and gas drilling is currently under construction 15 miles west of Rawlins on Riner Road, in Sweetwater County.
According to the company’s press agent, the 100-acre, multimillion-dollar project — called Red Desert Water Reclamation — is slated to begin operation Oct. 6.
The treatment plant is equipped to run 24 hours a day and treat 20,000 barrels of water produced in oil and gas drilling daily.
Although typically lost through the use of injection wells, treated water can theoretically be cleaned and reused.
Richard Cyr, senior vice president of Red Desert parent company Cate Street Capital, Inc., stated in a news release the facility would enable the reuse of 270 million gallons of water annually.
Once completed, the Red Desert plant should create six jobs.
The plant was constructed with the aid of Uinta Engineering, Alta Construction and Nations Construction. More than 50 jobs were created in its construction.
Red Desert officials plan to open similar facilities in Wyoming during the next year and a half.
