CASE STUDY / OIL AND GAS

Oil Stains Around Every Well Head Gone in Six Months, With a Pump-Up Sprayer

This case shows that surface spraying with a diluted DRP Accelerator solution cleared oil stains from every well head and tank location in a central Texas production field, without digging up any soil. The stains had built up over years around dozens of well heads and tank sites before a site review set a six month deadline for the cleanup. Field personnel mixed the hydrocarbon cleanup formulation of DRP Accelerator, which pairs the oxygen carrier with a bacteria package, to a five percent solution in water and applied it with a standard insecticide pump-up sprayer. Each stain was sprayed once or twice a week, with no digging, no soil removal and no turning of the ground. Most of the stains were gone within a few weeks, and all of them were gone before the six month deadline. The report puts the total product cost for the whole field at under one thousand dollars.

Years of oil stains cleared by spraying alone, with no digging and no soil removed.

A central Texas oil and gas production field had oil spills and stains built up around well heads and tank locations over several years.
A site review set a six month deadline for clearing the stains.
The hydrocarbon cleanup formulation of DRP Accelerator was diluted to a five percent solution in water and applied with a standard insecticide pump-up sprayer.
Each oil stain at each well head and tank location was sprayed once or twice a week, with no digging, soil removal or turning of the ground.
Most of the oil stains were no longer visible within a few weeks of the first applications.
All of the oil stains across the field were gone within the six month deadline.
The report estimates the total product cost for the cleanup at under one thousand dollars.

Published September 24, 2026

The system

This case comes from a production field in central Texas with well heads and tank locations spread across the site. Oil spills and stains had accumulated around those locations over a period of years, the kind of buildup that comes from small drips and spills at valves, connections and tank fittings going unaddressed one at a time. The study document that records this cleanup does not name the field, the operating company or any person involved, and it does not give the field’s size, the number of well heads on it or the exact dates the work took place. Waste Water Innovations is confirming written permission to name the field before any future version of this page would include it. Because the field is anonymized, this case is read as a description of what a spray program can do on similar staining, not as a specific, verifiable site record a reader could go inspect.

The problem

Years of routine spills and drips had left oil stains around most of the well heads and tank locations on the field. The study document describes the sites as sloppy and unmaintained by the time the condition was noticed at a corporate level. A site review set a firm deadline: six months to clear the stains from the field. The document does not record how many individual stains existed across the field, only that there were dozens of them at well head and tank locations throughout the site. The usual alternative for staining like this is excavation: dig up the stained soil, haul it to a landfill and bring in clean fill, an approach that costs real money and takes equipment and time at every single location across a field this size.

What we did

The hydrocarbon cleanup formulation of DRP Accelerator, which pairs the oxygen carrier with a bacteria package, was diluted to a five percent solution in water. Each field operator filled a standard insecticide pump-up sprayer with the diluted mixture. At every well head and tank location, each visible oil stain was sprayed once or twice a week. No other action was taken at any stain: no digging, no soil removal and no turning or mixing of the ground. The oxygen carrier makes usable oxygen available at the surface where the stain sits, and the bacteria package gives that oxygen a hydrocarbon-eating population to work with right away instead of waiting on whatever native population the soil already held. The product is consumed as the bacteria use it, and repeat spraying keeps fresh oxygen and bacteria available at each stain through the weeks it takes to break the hydrocarbons down. For the same approach applied to a documented spill footprint rather than surface staining, see hydrocarbon soil remediation; for how the program is scoped across a field, see oil and gas hydrocarbon cleanup.

How it was measured

The study document reports visual observation only. Field personnel noted when a given stain was no longer visible at the surface, at the few weeks mark and again across the following months. No soil samples were taken and no laboratory testing is referenced anywhere in the document, which sets this case apart from a soil-sample study and keeps its claims limited to what the eye could see. The document does not give specific dates for when spraying began, when individual stains cleared, or when the six month deadline fell on the calendar. There is no separate untreated control location in the record; every well head and tank stain on the field received the same spray treatment, so there is no side by side comparison to a stain left alone.

Results

Timeframe	Observation
First few weeks	Most of the oil stains across the field were no longer visible
Within six months	All of the oil stains across the field were no longer visible, meeting the deadline
Product cost	The report estimates the total cost for the field at under one thousand dollars

Application detail	Record
Dilution	Five percent hydrocarbon cleanup formulation of DRP Accelerator in water
Application tool	Standard insecticide pump-up sprayer, hand applied by each field operator
Frequency	Each stain sprayed once or twice a week
Soil disturbance	None: no digging, no soil removal, no turning

A corporate review of the field after six months found the stains cleared and the site’s appearance improved. The study document credits the result to repeat surface spraying alone, with no digging and very little labor or time invested at any single stain, for a total product cost the report puts at under one thousand dollars across the whole field.

Limitations

This is one field’s visual record, not a laboratory study. The study document reports what was seen at the surface, not soil sample results, so it cannot speak to hydrocarbon concentrations at depth or confirm complete breakdown below what was visible. It does not give specific dates for when spraying started or when any individual stain cleared, only that most stains cleared within a few weeks and all of them cleared inside the six month deadline. It does not record the number of well heads or stains treated, the field’s size, or soil or weather conditions during the work, all of which affect how fast a stain like this clears. There is no untreated comparison location; every stain on the field received the same treatment, so this case cannot rule out that some stains would have faded on their own over six months. And because the field itself is not named, a reader cannot independently verify the timeline against a public record. For a future customer, a result like this is a goal we measure, not a promise.

Proof assets

The study document, “Bioremediation Around the Well Heads,” describing the field’s condition, the spray application and the six month result.
Waste Water Innovations is confirming customer permission to name the field before any future version of this page names it.

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