Hydraulic Fracturing or “fracking†as it is more commonly known is the use of pressurised fluid to fracture a rock layer, especially for the extraction of oil and gas.
While the oil and gas industry insist that fracking does no harm to the surrounding area or to the water table, various regions have had severe drinking water problems that they suspected was as a result of fracturing in the area. Oil and gas companies blamed it on faulty equipment.
Initially very little was known about the liquid mixture of chemicals used to crack geological formations in the ground and release the profitable natural oil and gas contained therein, but concerned individuals and groups have done research and made public just exactly what happens during fracking.
Firstly, the oil and gas companies inject a mixture containing in excess of 200 different chemicals, including diesel, biocides and benzene into the ground. This uses billions of litres of water and results just as much leftover toxic wastewater which is supposedly being pumped back into the ground when the oil extraction has taken place, but research has found that many of the sites are actually dumping, or pumping this toxic wastewater into federally protected underground aquifers.
Oil and gas companies in the US were permitted to inject the wastewater into underground aquifers referred to as ‘exempt aquifers’ because they already had higher levels of solids and chemicals in them, but now they are just dumping anywhere, including into “pristine,” federally protected underground aquifers that provide the drinking water for millions.
Fracking is responsible for high levels of arsenic, nitrates, thallium and other chemicals in the drinking water in many areas and people have started getting ill. This has caused a huge outcry and movement against fracking locally and internationally as communities seek to preserve their land and their drinking water.
Make sure to protect yourself and the health of your loved ones from toxins in your drinking water by making one simple purchase – a mains water cooler with a triple action carbon filter that will filter out all toxins and provide you with healthy drinking water. Contact Living-Water for a free water needs-assessment and quote for the water cooler best suited to your needs and budget.
