The recent explosion of directional drilling and fracking in the U.S. for energy is creating a huge demand for water management. Water is injected to newly created wells to increase the pressure to bring oil onto the surface. Not only oil, injected water is also comes out of wells mixed in with other chemicals used in the process.

Much needed water for the new fracking technology is creating new environmentally friendly ways to store water. Until two years ago, much of the water used in the industry employed one of two storage methods: a mobile tank farm (35 percent used) or water stored in lined pits (55 percent used). Tank farms didn’t suit the industry when it needed large amounts of water at once during the fracking process. On the other hand, lined pits were cheaper but had issues with evaporation and leakage due to punctured liners.

The new method, above-ground pools, can be scaled to suit the need and are more efficient than tank farms. Pools can be covered to prevent evaporation and water loss. They are flexible to fold and moved to other locations. They provide a very low leak risk and therefore, more environmentally friendly.