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Jay Forbes November 7, 2009
Scott Heizer, one of the people who helped Forbes build the machine, said he comes to the shop often, but work is hard to come by. At one point a few weeks ago, he said he didn’t weld anything for half a month. Heizer has, however, been hired a few times to cap working wells in the region, meaning the well ceases production of oil or gas.
Alan Mead works on Jay Forbes’ machine after he brought it back to his Craig warehouse for additional work. Forbes said the machine worked successfully every time it was used but that he wanted to bring it into the shop to disassemble it and check for wear on the inside. Forbes also took the chance to make a few modifications to see if he could refine the water separation process and lower emissions, though he added the machine runs off propane, one of the cleanest fuels available.
Jay Forbes sits at his desk at Forbes Certified Welding with the evidence of his invention’s success in front of him. At left is a jar of production water that comes out of an oil or gas well. At right is a jar of the salt water left over when the production water is run through his machine. The new water has had almost all hydrocarbons and chemicals removed. It cannot be used for drinking water, but Forbes thinks it might be perfect for hydraulic fracturing when companies are drilling new wells.
Scott Heizer, who has worked on the project since it started, opens a hole in the machine to start work inside. Monique Forbes, Jay’s wife, said the two of them were grateful to everyone in the community who gave time and other help during the machine’s construction, operation and renovation.
Scott Heizer reaches his hand inside the machine after it had been disassembled. Although the machine was built quickly, the process has been arduous. A few of the most nerve-racking weeks came when Heizer and the rest of the crew were waiting for an independent engineer’s report last month that would verify the machine’s results. Forbes said the report was extremely positive, however, and gave him more confidence that he would be able to turn the machine into a business.
Jay Forbes works on assembling the second generation of his machine at his shop. He said there are several other people building machines that also try to separate salt water from well production water, but no one is using his method. Of all the different machines he is aware of, Forbes said his also filters out the most oil, gas and chemicals.
From left, Alan Mead, Tom Mathers, Jay Forbes, Scott Heizer and Ken Chadwick pose for a picture in front of a prototype of the machine at Forbes’ business. Not pictured is John Counts, who Forbes said also was instrumental in the machine’s construction. Throughout the machine’s design and build, Forbes said one of his motivations was the machine could help energy companies use cleaner substances when they drill wells. However, he also designed the machine to be efficient and economical and save companies money.
