One of the concern about fracking (drilling via hydraulic fracturing) is the sig

Question

One of the concern about fracking (drilling via hydraulic fracturing) is the significant amount of waste water the process generate. Sometimes this waste contains radioactive material like One particular well in Pennsylvania (Neal # 134-1H) had waste water containing levels of radioactive material that were for above the allowable limits. If the well used 6.00 times 10 6 gallons of water and was measured to have 12, 407 pCi/L from radium, how many total picocuries did this well have? The total EPA exposure limit for radium is 5.00 pCi/L. How many gallons of water would you need to add to the original 6.00 times 10 6 gal for this PA well to be- within the allowable limits? Vermont uses 431 times 10 6 gallons of fresh water a day. For bow many days would the Mate need to go without water in order to accumulate the gallons needed from part

Explanation / Answer

ANSWER 1:

Well use 6x106 gallons of water which is equal to 2.27x108 liters.

Radium level found in the well water was 12.407 pCi/L (it was not leggible whether it was a decimal point or comma. Decimal point is considered for the calculation).

So, total water contains = 2.27x108x12.407 pCi = 2.81x109 pCi of Radium in the well.

ANSWER-2:

Allowable limit = 5 pCi/L,

So, according to EPA, 6x106 gallons of water which is equal to 2.27x108 liters can contain = 2.27x108x5 pCi of Radium.

But the actual amount is quite high = 2.81x109pCi of Radium

Dilution is required to bring the high concentration down, we can apply, V1S1 = V2S2

Where, V and S stands for volume and concentration respectively.

V1 =  6x106 gallons

S1 = 2.81x109 pCi

V2 = ?

S2 =2.27x108x5

By replacing the values, V2 = 6x106x2.81x109/2.27x108/5

or V2 = 1.48x107 gallons

So, water to be added = 1.481x107 -  6x106 = (14.8-6)x106 =8.8x106 gallons

ANSWER 3:

Vermont requires V3=431x106 gallons of water per day.

Total water quantity after processing that is V2= 1.48x107 gallons =14.8x106 Gallons

The quantity of processed water is less than the requirement of vermon in a day, so wait time will be maximum 1 day.

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