Why 'fracking' was used is beyond me (/s), because there is some water produced with almost all oil and most gas. that production water is commonly disposed of in injection wells, whether the well was hydraulically fractured or not, and the amount of produced water will eventually exceed multiples of the volume of frac fluid.
Yes, I agree, waste water has been and continues to be injected into deep wells for “disposal” which means it is re-injected back into the deep formations from which it came originally via “disposal” wells. This has nothing to do with any fracking whatsoever. Produced water comes from ALL producing wells to some degree and is a natural byproduct of natural gas extraction. Produced water is now considered a hazardous material and therefore must be disposed of this way. They have no other option according to EPA regulations. They are forced to put it back where it came from.
SS1
Earthquakes attributable to deep well injection of fracking waste water are a major public issue in areas of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Greater regulation is inevitable even in those oil industry friendly states.
This water may not even be from fracking in the basin but from a third type of production called "coal gas." This gas is produced from water saturated coal beds that have gas trapped by the presence and pressure of water. To release the gas, large volumes of water are pumped at the BEGINNING of the extraction process to lower the hydraulic head so as to release the gas. This gas doesn't have the type of volatiles associated with conventural production so the water is relatively fresh. It would be useful to reuse the water but injection may be the more economical option for the producer. In addition, and unlike conventional gas production, water volumes decrease with time, much like heavy pumping conventional water wells with no recharge.