Coal seam gas is extracted by drilling wells into an underground “seam” of coal, then pumping some of the water out, allowing the natural gas present in the seam to escape and be collected.
This process is called “dewatering” of the coal seam.
The amount of water produced can be made to seem a little or a lot, depending on your perspective. The Interim Report of the Senate Committee chaired by Bill Heffernan was told by the industry that water produced was as little as 0.0002% of the water contained in the Great Artesian Basin.
The ABC site Coal Seam Gas by the Numbers gives a range of estimates of the total water produced each year. For example, the National Water Commission estimates 300 gigalitres (GL), that’s 300 billion litres. By way of comparison, Sydney Harbour (or one sydharb) contains 500 GL.
The Wellhead - Behind The Coal Seam Blog
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