Acquisitions and Dispositions (Details 1) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Joint Venture [Member]	Jan. 16, 2014 Joint Venture [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 TD EnerServ [Member]	Jan. 29, 2014 TD EnerServ [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Compressor Systems, Inc. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Compressor Systems, Inc. [Member]	Aug. 11, 2014 Compressor Systems, Inc. [Member]	Aug. 04, 2014 Compressor Systems, Inc. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Vehicles [Member]	Jan. 29, 2014 Minimum [Member] TD EnerServ [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Minimum [Member] Building [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Minimum [Member] Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Jan. 29, 2014 Maximum [Member] TD EnerServ [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Maximum [Member] Building [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Maximum [Member] Machinery and Equipment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Member] Maximum [Member]
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible asset, useful life																			2 years	10 years
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant, and equipment, useful life												4 years		15 years	2 years		40 years	20 years
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Date of acquisition				Jan. 16, 2014		Jan. 29, 2014			Jul. 20, 2014
Percentage of ownership interest acquired					50.00%
Total ownership interest resulting from acquisition					100.00%
Ownership interest immediately prior to acquisition					50.00%
Purchase price				$ 25,200,000		$ 15,000,000
Amount paid at closing					15,000,000
Additional consideration payable at a later date					10,200,000
Due date of second payment				Jul. 16, 2014
Fair value of existing investment in acquiree				22,000,000
Remeasurement gain				5,700,000
Charge to earnings associated with termination of prior relationship				2,900,000
Contingent consideration, minimum possible payment													0
Contingent consideration, maximum possible payment																8,000,000
Purchase price allocation, current assets											104,456,000
Purchase price allocation, net working capital					18,500,000
Purchase price allocation, property, plant, and equipment					1,300,000		7,300,000				570,500,000
Purchase price allocation, intangible assets					22,500,000		3,400,000				59,672,000
Purchase price allocation, total assets acquired											904,612,000
Purchase price allocation, current liabilities											79,612,000
Purchase price allocation, deferred tax liabilities					4,500,000
Purchase price allocation, total liabilities assumed											79,612,000
Purchase price allocation, net assets acquired											825,000,000
Purchase price allocation, liabilities associated with contingent purchase price consideration							2,300,000
Purchase price allocation, nondeductible goodwill	369,048,000		188,159,000		6,300,000		6,500,000				169,984,000
Adjustment of liability associated with contingent purchase price consideration during the period						1,100,000
Revenues from acquired entitiy				25,300,000					61,000,000
Depreciation and amortization from acquired entity				1,100,000					9,600,000
Pretax earnings from acquired entity				4,700,000					6,400,000
Transaction costs associated with acquisition								2,100,000	3,000,000
Deferred financing costs								15,700,000	15,700,000
Payments of financing costs and discounts	(9,869,000)	0						9,300,000
Compressco Senior Notes face value											350,000,000
Compressco Senior Note interest rate											7.25%
Proceeds from issuance of Compressco common units									359,100,000
Net proceeds from issuance of Compressco common units									346,000,000
Number of Compressco common units sold									15,280,000
General Partners' capital contribution										1,100,000
TETRA's ownership interest in Compressco Partners	44.00%
TETRA's ownership interest in Compressco Partners prior to offering	82.00%
Total number of new units issued	17,572,000
Value of trademarks/tradenames											32,000,000
Value of customer relationships											15,000,000
Value of other intangible assets											12,300,000
Accumulated amortization, intangible assets acquired	$ 31,567,000		$ 31,956,000					$ 1,500,000	$ 1,500,000