Fountain Quail Water Management LLC said Feb. 10 it received up to $40 million in private equity to expand its North American operations.

The company treats and recycles produced and flowback water with its ROVER and NOMAD proprietary systems, which are designed to cut water-specific operating costs by eliminating the need to transport and dispose of wastewater and source and transport freshwater.

Cost savings range between 30% and 80%, the company said, and greenhouse-gas emissions are reduced by removing truck traffic from roadways.

The ROVER system efficiently recycles wastewater into clean brine for reuse during hydraulic fracturing, and NOMAD converts wastewater into surface discharge-quality freshwater. That way, wastewater does not have to be disposed of in evaporation pits or injection wells, and recycling is a cost-effective way to provide freshwater for hydraulic fracturing.

These systems have been used in the Marcellus, Utica, Barnett, Eagle Ford, Permian Basin and other plays, the company said.

Brent Halldorson, COO, said the equity commitment will allow the company to deploy additional ROVER and NOMAD units along with other oilfield water management services.

Fountain Quail said that across all U.S. shale plays, about 12 barrels (bbl) of water are produced on average for every 1/bbl of oil. In 2015, about 66 MMbbl/d of water flowed from onshore domestic oil and gas wells. By 2020, produced water volumes are expected to rise to 92 MMbbl/d, and industry experts estimate that 2015 oilfield water management costs in the U.S. exceeded $37 billion, the company added.

Fountain Quail Water Management LLC is based in Keller, Texas.