Discontinued Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jan. 29, 2021	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of CCLP, net of cash divested				$ 566	$ 0
Gain on disposition of business				120,574	0
Proceeds from long-term debt				0	404,060
Repayments of long-term debt				37,477	408,666
Proceeds on sale of property, plant, and equipment				1,016	24,704
Revenue			$ 79,117	18,968	265,727
Cost of revenues		$ (174)	49,416	11,328	166,947
Depreciation, amortization, and accretion			19,948		59,972
Impairments and other charges					14,348
General and administrative expense		6	9,303	2,802	29,961
Interest expense, net			13,293	4,336	38,839
Other expense, net		150	(1,348)	164	2,932
Pretax (loss) income from discontinued operations		18	(11,495)	338	(47,272)
Pretax gain (loss) on disposal of discontinued operations				120,574
Total pretax loss from discontinued operations				120,912
Income tax provision			544	30	1,923
Total loss from discontinued operations		18	(12,039)	120,882	(49,195)
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to noncontrolling interest		0	8,342	(333)	32,957
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to TETRA stockholders		18	(3,697)	120,549	(16,238)
Cash and cash equivalents		0	6,757	0	6,757	$ 16,577	$ 2,370
Trade receivables						43,837
Inventories						31,220
Other current assets						5,231
Property, plant, and equipment						551,401
Other assets						61,740
Total assets associated with discontinued operations						710,006
Assets of discontinued operations		0		0		710,006
Trade payables		1,099		1,099		20,988
Unearned Income						269
Accrued liabilities and other		228		228		36,898
Long-term debt, net						638,631
Other liabilities						37,253
Total liabilities associated with discontinued operations		1,327		1,327		734,039
CSI Compressco | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from divestiture of businesses	$ 13,400
Proceeds from sale of CCLP, net of cash divested	500
Consideration transferred	3,100
Gain on disposition of business	$ 120,600
CSI Compressco | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale | Limited Partner [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
General partner, ownership interest	23.10%
Compression Division [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Revenue			79,117	18,968	265,727
Cost of revenues		0	49,414	11,474	167,279
Depreciation, amortization, and accretion			19,948		59,972
Impairments and other charges					14,348
General and administrative expense		0	9,133	2,796	29,474
Interest expense, net			13,293	4,336	38,839
Other expense, net		150	(1,348)	164	2,932
Pretax (loss) income from discontinued operations		(150)	(11,323)	198	(47,117)
Cash and cash equivalents						16,577
Trade receivables						43,837
Inventories						31,220
Other current assets						5,231
Property, plant, and equipment						551,401
Other assets						61,740
Total assets associated with discontinued operations						710,006
Trade payables						19,766
Unearned Income						269
Accrued liabilities and other						36,318
Long-term debt, net						638,631
Other liabilities						37,253
Total liabilities associated with discontinued operations						732,237
Compression Division [Member] | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Capital expenditure, discontinued operations				3,000	10,800
Proceeds from long-term debt					337,500
Repayments of long-term debt					341,200
Proceeds on sale of property, plant, and equipment					21,700
Amortization of financing discounts, costs and gains					2,000
Offshore Services [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Revenue			0	0	0
Cost of revenues		(174)	2	(146)	(332)
Depreciation, amortization, and accretion			0		0
Impairments and other charges					0
General and administrative expense		6	170	6	487
Interest expense, net			0	0	0
Other expense, net		0	0	0	0
Pretax (loss) income from discontinued operations		168	$ (172)	140	$ (155)
Cash and cash equivalents						0
Trade receivables						0
Inventories						0
Other current assets						0
Property, plant, and equipment						0
Other assets						0
Total assets associated with discontinued operations						0
Trade payables		1,099		1,099		1,222
Unearned Income						0
Accrued liabilities and other		0		0		352
Long-term debt, net						0
Other liabilities						0
Total liabilities associated with discontinued operations		1,099		1,099		1,574
Maritech [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents						0
Trade receivables						0
Inventories						0
Other current assets						0
Property, plant, and equipment						0
Other assets						0
Total assets associated with discontinued operations						0
Trade payables		0		0		0
Unearned Income						0
Accrued liabilities and other		228		228		228
Long-term debt, net						0
Other liabilities						0
Total liabilities associated with discontinued operations		$ 228		$ 228		$ 228