A new water treatment system could one day be an environmental game-changer for Kern County's oil industry. The Clean-Frac water treatment system is from a Los Angleles company called Origin Oil.
The first successful field test of the system was completed earlier this month in the Lost Hills area. The system uses electrical pulses so that the solids and oil are separated from the water and come out as an oily sludge.
"The process is chemical free, low energy and has a pretty small footprint and we believe it will be competitively priced," said Bill Charneski, the oil and gas division manager at Origin Oil.
Origin Oil says the reclaimed water can be recycled into the groundwater table or reused in the oil production process known as fracking which would reduce demand for fresh water.
The oil sludge can also be reclaimed and refined for sale.
