“We acquired proven technology that’s recycled 30 million barrels of produced water in the Permian Basin alone,” Nash told the Reporter-Telegram.

In a telephone interview, he recounted doing a survey recently on the company’s Linked-In account asking potential customers how they would like to see desalinated water provided: Take and pay, lease or own the desalination technology or through a midstream partnership with a landowner. Overwhelmingly, respondents – 60 percent – opted for take or pay. Only 1 percent wanted a midstream-agriculture partnership.

“At some point in time, they’re going to have to come to the realization agriculture must be a partner,” Nash said. “Look at the seismic activity” linked to water disposal.

When the Wyoming-based company visited Midland in the summer of 2019 to promote this partnership, they forged a partnership agreement with Cody Wilson of Cody Wilson Farms at Midkiff. The partnership called for Encore’s propriety Conservation By Design method that cleans the water in close proximity to the well and then applies it to the land in the surrounding area to grow grassland and other vegetation. When refurbishment of the first NOMAD unit is completed, it will be taken to Wilson’s farm.

“We have thousands of acres of existing irrigation infrastructure in the are that could be used,” said Wilson, joining Nash in the telephone interview. “We could get rid of millions of barrels of water through this infrastructure. There’s a lot of stuff already here that you don’t have to duplicate.”

Once the unit is in place, it can clean 2,500 barrels a day, said John Robitaille, Encore’s chief executive officer

“We expect to recover 2,000 clean barrels out of the back end,” he said. “Those barrels that are unsuitable will be disposed of downhole or in a certified landfill.”

Not only is the company offering better water disposal but also carves out a soil health network and improves plant diversity, Robitaille said.

In turn, less water disposed downhole means less stress on subsurface fractures that result in seismic events, more water for agricultural or industrial or even municipal use, and healthy soil means more plants that capture carbon emissions, the three pointed out.

“ESG – Environment, Social and Governance – is important in our business,” observed Robitaille. “What we accomplish is environmental stewardship.”

Nash stated that investors look for passion, patents and profits. 

“Everyone is passionate about water. At Encore, we’ve developed patents and started the process of cleaning water and partnering with agriculture,” said Nash. “Now we’re getting to the profit.

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