Open surfaces evaporate, smell, and grow algae. Cover them.
Covex® is a hexagonal floating cover that seals the liquid-air interface. On produced water, evaporation ponds, fire water and cooling basins it cuts evaporation, suppresses odor and VOC release, blocks algae, and removes the open surface that draws in birds and wildlife.
It all starts at the liquid-air interface.
Wherever produced water, process water or stored water meets the air, the same things happen across the whole facility: water and hydrocarbons evaporate, vapors and odor escape, light feeds algae, and the open surface draws in birds and wildlife. In arid basins an open pond can lose well over 2,000 mm of water column per year to evaporation alone.
Evaporation & volume
Open produced water and evaporation ponds lose volume to the air every day. Where the goal is to store and recover water, that loss is wasted resource; where ponds are sized for capacity, every uncovered surface changes the water balance.
Odor, VOC & emissions
The open surface lets vapors, odor and volatile organic compounds escape straight to atmosphere. That means lost product, community odor complaints, and exposure under tightening air-quality and emissions reporting rules.
Wildlife & compliance
Open ponds attract migratory birds and wildlife to water that may be saline, hydrocarbon-bearing or chemically loaded. A single mortality event can trigger reporting obligations, penalties and reputational damage.
How much is your pond losing to the air right now? Tell us its location and surface area and we send you a quotation with the estimated evaporation and emissions reduction.
Request a quotationA cover that self-installs and self-adjusts.
The hexagonal HDPE modules float, interlock, and settle on their own to the reservoir level. They require no structure, anchoring, or maintenance. Each unit carries sealed water ballast that keeps it in place in winds up to 100 km/h.
Less evaporation
The physical barrier of the hexagons cuts the mass exchange between liquid and air, preserving stored volume and recovering water across produced water and evaporation ponds.
Less odor at the surface
By sealing the surface, the cover suppresses the escape of odor and limits the release of vapors and volatile organic compounds, reducing emissions and community complaints.
Stops algae growth
By blocking light, it inhibits photosynthesis in the stored water, protecting water quality and reducing downstream treatment.
Virtually eliminates the open surface
With no visible reflective surface, migratory birds and wildlife are far less likely to detect the pond and stay away.
The same cover, the value that matters to you.
The physics of the liquid-air interface is universal, but the priority changes with the pond and the fluid. Find your application below.
Produced Water
- Evaporation control that preserves stored volume and protects the facility water balance in arid basins.
- Odor and VOC containment over hydrocarbon-bearing water, cutting emissions and community complaints.
- HDPE formulated for ESCR, the critical factor against saline and chemically loaded water.
- Wildlife exclusion on open ponds, reducing the risk of migratory-bird mortality events and the reporting that follows.
Evaporation & Emissions
- Where evaporation is undesired, the cover suppresses water and hydrocarbon loss and stabilizes pond level.
- Surface sealing limits the escape of vapors, odor and volatile organic compounds to atmosphere.
- Passive performance with no power, no blowers and no active devices to maintain.
- Supports air-quality and emissions-reporting obligations with a permanent physical control.
Fire Water & Cooling
- Algae and odor control that keeps fire water and cooling basins clean and protects pumps and intakes.
- Evaporation control on open tanks and basins, reducing makeup water and chemical dosing.
- Freeze delay in cold-climate operations: water stays available longer and intake infrastructure stays protected.
- Wildlife exclusion on open process water surfaces, a recurring inspection finding at facilities.
Where temperature matters, the surface is where you lose it.
The ponds and basins at an oil & gas facility hold water at ambient temperature, so Covex® works the surface in both directions: by day it blocks solar radiation and slows how fast the water heats up, cutting evaporation when it peaks; by night the insulating air chamber slows cooling and delays freezing in fire water and cooling basins, where availability depends on the water staying liquid.
It slows temperature changes in both directions.
The cover intercepts sunlight before it reaches the water and slows heat exchange with the air. Water warms up later in the day, so at peak sun it runs about 4°C cooler than uncovered water, and at night it loses heat more slowly. That slower cooling is what protects fire water and cooling basins in winter.
By night, it slows cooling and delays freezing.
In cold-climate operations, an open pond cools fast at night and can freeze at the surface, threatening fire water availability and intake infrastructure. The insulating air chamber slows that cooling: against a -5°C environment, Covex® keeps the water up to 5.2°C warmer than the uncovered surface during the first hours of the night.
The effect is decisive where there is freezing risk: uncovered water reaches 0°C at 7.5 hours, while under Covex® the freezing point is delayed to 12 hours, 60% more time.
Protect wildlife, contain emissions, back your compliance.
Open ponds at oil & gas facilities sit under tightening wildlife-protection and air-quality regulation. Covex® provides a continuous physical barrier that eliminates the visible open surface, becoming an auditable control to mitigate bird and wildlife risk, suppress odor and VOC release, and keep operations running without interruption.
No open surface, no attraction
By covering 98% of the surface, migratory birds are unlikely to perceive a body of water to land on or drink from. The deterrence is structural and does not rely on active devices such as nets, cannons or lasers.
Contains odor and VOC release
The sealed surface limits the escape of vapors, odor and volatile organic compounds to atmosphere, reducing emissions, product loss and community complaints.
HDPE grade for harsh fluids
High-density polyethylene withstands sustained contact with saline produced water carrying hydrocarbons in trace or emulsified form, the typical chemistry of produced water and evaporation ponds. The formulation prioritizes environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR), the critical factor in that chemistry. For ponds holding a free hydrocarbon phase, compatibility is confirmed by immersion testing with a sample of the actual fluid rather than assumed.
Zero maintenance, automatic adjustment
The hexagons rearrange themselves as the level changes. There is no structure to inspect and no anchors to fail during an audit.
Open ponds that birds and wildlife can access are a recurring source of mortality events, reporting obligations and penalties across oil & gas operations.
Across jurisdictions, regulators expect operators to keep migratory birds and wildlife away from exposed produced water, evaporation and disposal ponds. Common measures include fencing, netting and covering the open surface. Active deterrents such as cannons, lasers, flagging and bird balls are widely used, but they depend on equipment that can fail, drift or lose effectiveness over time.
Preparing for a wildlife or air-quality inspection? Ask for the documentation describing Covex® as a passive, inspectable barrier over your open ponds.
Request compliance documentationData measured on site, not catalog promises.
Floating cover experience since 1997.
Our floating covers have protected open water and process ponds across demanding industrial environments, from high-altitude desert to sub-zero climates, since 1997. Covex® brings that field experience to oil & gas ponds and tanks.
Want to hear it from an operation already using Covex®? Ask for a reference site with a comparable fluid and climate.
Ask for a reference siteLet's do the numbers.
Tell us about your pond or tank and we will provide an estimate of evaporation, emissions reduction, and payback for your site.
Thank you for reaching out. A Covex® specialist will review your request and get back to you.
Technical Resources
Learn how floating covers reduce evaporation, control algae, and improve produced water management in upstream operations: covering produced water and evaporation ponds.