Abstract: A method is set forth for the treatment of mixed oil and water flowing from a producing oil well. Certain salts may be formed by the mixture some of which will be soluble organic salts. The present process sets forth a method of treating the produced stream with low molecular weight amines and preferably amine quaternaries with strong acids so that the oil based salts are removed from the water phase and left with the oil for segregation, thereby permitting disposal of the produced water without creating a sheen on the produced water. Subsequent waste water treatment is avoided to remove traces of oil on the produced but separated water.