Back in the 1980’s, it was common to use a lot of fresh water to produce oil from the oil sands.
Today, we conserve fresh water by sourcing brackish water – the unusable water far below the fresh water table.
By 2013, fresh water will account for less than 3% of all water used at our Primrose facility here in northeastern Alberta.
Finding innovative ways to limit environmental impacts is key to meeting our energy needs responsibly.
Technological developments enable us to reduce the amount of water we use, and increase our use of recycled and undrinkable water.
Brackish water is water very high in salt; so high in fact that it can't be used for anything else. We use that instead of fresh water to produce our oil.
Brackish water is water very high in salt; so high in fact that it can't be used for anything else. We use that instead of fresh water to produce our oil.