John M. Walsh

John M. Walsh has nearly 30 years of experience in industrial and oilfield water treatment. He has held technical and leadership positions with Shell, Westvaco Paper Co., CETCO Energy Services, and Worley. During his more than 20 years with Shell, he served as the company’s global subject-matter expert for upstream water treatment, providing technical leadership for research and development, troubleshooting, and water-treatment programs worldwide.

Walsh has worked on a broad range of produced-water challenges, including shale operations, waterflooding, enhanced oil recovery, conventional onshore facilities, and deepwater offshore developments. He is the author of a two-volume reference, developed with the support and contributions of numerous industry experts.

He served as president and managing director of the Produced Water Society and as a member of SPE’s Board of Directors. He also served as the designated instructor for two SPE courses on water treatment. Walsh holds a PhD in chemical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Processing systems/design

Challenges of Water-Soluble Organics in Offshore Produced Water—Part 1

This article addresses the challenges of managing water-soluble organics (WSOs) in offshore produced water. It provides a brief discussion of the chemistry, along with strategies and technologies that can be used to manage WSO levels in produced water, thus facilitating compliance with regulatory overboard water-quality guidelines.

July 16, 2026 • Kris M. Bansal • Journal of Petroleum Technology
Water management

Mastering Produced-Water Management in Deepwater GOM: 25 Years of Insights—Part 2

This article is the second of a two-part series on produced-water management in the Gulf of Mexico and covers four themes: equipment, process configuration, operations, and effluent quality.

March 6, 2025 • Kris M. Bansal • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

Mastering Produced-Water Management in Deepwater GOM: 25 Years of Insights—Part 1

This first of a two-part series provides guidelines for designing and operating advanced produced-water systems on offshore platforms, covering fluid characterization, chemical treatment, equipment, process configuration, operations, and effluent quality.

October 7, 2024 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

A Reassessment of the Role of Colloidal Iron in Produced Water From Shale Operations—A Review of Field Data and Literature (Part B)

This paper is the second of a two-part series. It covers facilities problems caused by iron, injectivity problems caused by iron, and the mitigation of colloidal iron-related problems.

November 24, 2021 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

A Reassessment of the Role of Colloidal Iron in Produced Water From Shale Operations—A Review of Field Data and Literature (Part A)

A review of the properties of iron compounds and their impact in shale produced water treatment with an emphasis on their colloidal forms. A wide range of problems is associated with these compounds in produced water including emulsion stabilization, oil-coated solids, pad formation in separators, pipeline solids, and plugging of water disposal formations.

September 20, 2021 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Processing systems/design

The Savvy Separator: Physical Processes Behind Oil Droplet Coalescence During Water Treatment

By understanding the factors involved in oil droplet coalescence, the Savvy Separator engineer can assess the operational/chemical factors in the treatment system that are affecting droplet growth and make adjustments to enhance coalescence rates.

May 31, 2017 • Ted Frankiewicz • Oil and Gas Facilities
Processing systems/design

Savvy Separator Series: The Effect of Shear on Produced Water Treatment

The sources and magnitude of shear and the effects on oil droplet size can have significant consequences for downstream separation equipment performance.

January 31, 2016 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

Produced-Water-Treatment Systems: Comparison of North Sea and Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Water treatment systems in the North Sea differ from those in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This paper provides a detailed understanding of these differences and provides insight into the design of water-treatment systems in general.

March 14, 2015 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

Water Management for Hydraulic Fracturing in Unconventional Resources—Part 5

This is the fifth article in a series covering water management in hydraulic fracturing in unconventional resources. The focus of this article is biological control. Additives to improve fracturing conditions can have negative effects on water treatment.

January 7, 2014 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities
Water management

Water Management for Hydraulic Fracturing in Unconventional Resources—Part 4

This is the fourth article of a series covering water management in hydraulic fracturing (HF) in unconventional resources. This article discusses the use of mechanical vapor compression (MVC) as a desalination technology.

November 26, 2013 • John M. Walsh • Oil and Gas Facilities

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