Analysis of the Environmental Impact of the Injection of Treated Municipal Waste Waters into a Portion of the Geysers Geothermal Field, California, USA

Abstract

Pressure decline within 77E Geysers geothennal reservoir has resulted in aÆecrmedpower output from existing power plants. As a means of partiully arresting these pressure declines, several jkld operators and the County of Lake propose to add approximately 13,000 Ipm of treated municipal waste waterfrom several smull communities into 6 injectwn wells in the southeastern corner of thefild. Water will be carried to the geothennal field via a 50- or aFcm diameter pipeline from the vicinity of Clear Luh, a distance of about 45 km. 77E results of this study suggest that the proposed injectwn of fluent could he@ reducing the high rate of pressure and production rate declines without inducing sin@cant geochemistry incompatibility or microseismicity.