Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Principles of consolidation policy	Our unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of our wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The information furnished reflects all normal recurring adjustments, which are, in the opinion of management, necessary to provide a fair statement of the results for the interim periods. Operating results for the period ended June 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. We consolidate the financial statements of CSI Compressco LP and its subsidiaries ("CCLP") as part of our Compression Division, as we determined that CCLP is a variable interest entity and we are the primary beneficiary. We control the financial interests of CCLP and have the ability to direct the activities of CCLP that most significantly impact its economic performance through our ownership of its general partner. The share of CCLP net assets and earnings that is not owned by us is presented as noncontrolling interest in our consolidated financial statements. Our cash flows from our investment in CCLP are limited to the quarterly distributions we receive on our CCLP common units and general partner interest (including incentive distribution rights) and the amounts collected for services we perform on behalf of CCLP, as TETRA's capital structure and CCLP's capital structure are separate, and do not include cross default provisions, cross collateralization provisions, or cross guarantees. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X for interim financial statements required to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") for complete financial statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which we filed with the SEC on March 4, 2019.
Use of estimates policy	Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclose contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, and impairments during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and such differences could be material.
Lessee, Leases [Policy Text Block]	Leases As a lessee, unless the lease meets the criteria of short-term and is excluded per our policy election described below, we initially recognize a lease liability and related right-of-use asset on the commencement date. The right-of-use asset represents our right to use an underlying asset and the lease liability represents our obligation to make lease payments to the lessor over the lease term. Long-term operating leases are included in operating lease right-of-use assets, accrued liabilities and other, and operating lease liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2019. Long-term finance leases are not material. We determine whether a contract is or contains a lease at inception of the contract. Where we are a lessee in a contract that includes an option to extend or terminate the lease, we include the extension period or exclude the period covered by the termination option in our lease term, if it is reasonably certain that we would exercise the option. As an accounting policy election, we do not include short-term leases on our balance sheet. Short-term leases include leases with a term of 12 months or less, inclusive of renewal options we are reasonably certain to exercise. The lease payments for short-term leases are included as operating lease costs on a straight-line basis over the lease term in cost of revenues or general and administrative expense based on the use of the underlying asset. We recognize lease costs for variable lease payments not included in the determination of a lease liability in the period in which an obligation is incurred. As allowed by U.S. GAAP, we do not separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for our compression services contracts and instead account for those components as a single component based on the accounting treatment of the predominant component. In our evaluation of whether Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 842 "Leases" or ASC 606 "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" is applicable to the combined component based on the predominant component, we determined the services nonlease component is predominant, resulting in the ongoing recognition of our compression services contracts following ASC 606. Our operating and finance leases are recognized at the present value of lease payments over the lease term. When the implicit discount rate is not readily determinable, we use our incremental borrowing rate to calculate the discount rate used to determine the present value of lease payments. Consistent with other long-lived assets or asset groups that are held and used, we test for impairment of our right-of-use assets when impairment indicators are present.
Foreign currency translation policy	Foreign Currency Translation The cumulative translation effects of translating the applicable accounts from the functional currencies into the U.S. dollar at current exchange rates are included as a separate component of equity. Foreign currency exchange (gains) and losses are included in other (income) expense, net and totaled $(0.8) million and $0.5 million during the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively, and $(0.6) million and $0.3 million during the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively.
New Accounting Pronouncements policy	New Accounting Pronouncements Standards adopted in 2019 In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)" to increase comparability and transparency among different organizations. Organizations are required to recognize right-of-use lease assets and lease liabilities in the balance sheet related to the right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. In addition, through improved disclosure requirements, ASC 842 will enable users of financial statements to further understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We adopted the standard effective January 1, 2019. The standard had a material impact on our consolidated balance sheet, specifically, the reporting of our operating leases. The impact in the reporting of our finance leases was insignificant. We chose to transition using a modified retrospective approach which allows for the recognition of a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption rather than the earliest period presented. Comparative information is reported under the accounting standards that were in effect for those periods. In addition, upon transition, we elected the package of practical expedients, which allows us to continue to apply historical lease classifications to existing contracts. Upon adoption, we recognized $60.6 million in operating right-of-use assets, $12.0 million in accrued liabilities and other, and $50.7 million in operating lease liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet. In addition, we also recognized a $2.8 million cumulative effect adjustment to increase retained earnings, primarily as a result of a deferred gain from a previous sale and leaseback transaction on our corporate headquarters facility that was accounted for as an operating lease. Refer to Note K - “Leases” for further information on our leases. In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, "Income Statement-Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220)" that gives entities the option to reclassify the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. This was effective for us on January 1, 2019, however, as we do not have associated tax effects in accumulated other comprehensive income, there was no impact. In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting” to align the measurement and classification guidance for share-based payments to nonemployees with the guidance currently applied to employees, with certain exceptions. We adopted this ASU during the three months ended March 31, 2019, with no material impact to our consolidated financial statements. Standards not yet adopted In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments." ASU 2016-13 amends the impairment model to utilize an expected loss methodology in place of the currently used incurred loss methodology, which will result in the more timely recognition of losses. ASU 2016-13 has an effective date of the first quarter of fiscal 2020. We are currently assessing the potential effects of these changes to our consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, "Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment," which simplifies how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual periods, with early adoption permitted, under a prospective adoption. We do not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, "Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract." ASU 2018-15 clarifies the accounting for implementation costs in cloud computing arrangements. ASU 2018-15 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently assessing the potential effects of these changes to our consolidated financial statements.