According to the NY DEC, New York may not have the existing infrastructure at POTWs to handle the chemicals, NORM, and TDS, in volumes of water required for drilling. One of the limiting factors for how much water these facilities can accept is their ability to dilute the concentration of TDS present in their discharge water – the water that is released from the facility
after treatment – to 1000ppm, the amount in potable water. Existing wastewater treatment plants may not have the capacity to sufficiently reduce the TDS levels. (See text box)