Chapter 10: Properties of Produced Water

Early U.S. settlements commonly were located near salt licks that supplied salt to the population. These salt springs were often contaminated with petroleum, and many of the early efforts to acquire salt by digging wells were rewarded by finding unwanted amounts of oil and gas associated with the saline waters. In the Appalachian Mountains, saline water springs commonly occur along the crests of anticlines. ¹ 

In 1855, it was found that petroleum distillation produced light oil that was, as an illuminant, similar to coal oil and better than whale oil. ²  This knowledge spurred the search for saline waters containing oil. With the methods of the salt producers, Colonel Edward Drake drilled a well on Oil Creek, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. He struck oil at a depth of 70 ft, and this first oil well produced approximately 35 B/D. ³