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Agenda Item: 8(a) |
Prepared By: Jeffrey E. Poteet |
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Business: Consent Agenda |
Department: Water and Sewer |
Subject:
Title
Authorize the City Manager to Issue a Purchase Order to the Most Responsible Bidder, Pall Water (Danaher Corporation) for the North Water Treatment Plant (NWTP) Membrane Filtration Module Purchase in the Amount of $335,000.00, as per ITB #2020-028
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BACKGROUND:
Every year, the Water and Sewer (W&S) Department budgets to replace water treatment membranes as part of the W&S Capital Improvement Program (CIP). At the June 2020 CIP workshop, W&S staff requested the needed funding to replace membranes, which was subsequently approved by City Council in the FY21 W&S Department budget.
Membrane treatment filters become fouled over time resulting in a reduction of permeability, comparable to oil or air filters in cars or water filters in refrigerators, eventually rendering them ineffective. The North Water Treatment Plant (NWTP) microfiltration (MF) membranes have reached the end of their service life. The existing membranes installed in 2013, have a life expectancy of 5-8 years. In recent months, fouling has increased resulting in treatment plant shutdowns and increased demand placed on the South Water Treatment Plant.
The City publicly bid the purchase of 216 MF membrane modules. The bid was posted on 8/24/2020; bids were due on 9/24/2020; 1,075 suppliers were notified of this bid; 18 looked at the documents, and three submitted bids. The following three bids were received:
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Bidder |
Amount |
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Scinor Water America, LLC |
$ 235,950.00 |
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Toray Membrane US |
$ 297,456.40 |
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Pall Water |
$ 381,831.43 |
City staff evaluated the bids and determined that the submittals from Scinor and Toray did not meet the requirements of the bid. The bid included requirements for previous successful installations, years of service, and membrane potting methods. More specifically, bidders were required to demonstrate that the membranes proposed in their bid have been successfully installed for 10 years or more in 20 or more separate water treatment facilities of 2 million gallons per day (MGD) treatment capacity or more. While Scinor provided an extensive list of installations, the vast majority of installations were at manufacturing, chemical, power, and wastewater treatment facilities instead of drinking water treatment facilities. Only three of the 146 facilities that Scinor listed included installations of at least 10 years, and those facilities consist of a petrochemical plant in Fujian, China, a thermal power water reclamation facility in Inner Mongolia, China, and a coal chemical plant in Henan, China. Of the bidders that submitted, Pall Water is the only bidder that met the bid requirements. 83% of the existing membranes in the City’s NWTP system are manufactured by Pall Water and have a proven track record of reliable long-term performance in this type of system with minimal defects.
In 2017 the City purchased 72 membrane modules manufactured by Filmtec Corp (a subsidiary of Dow Chemical which is now DuPont) to replace the membranes on rack #1. By September of 2019, all 72 of the newly installed DuPont membrane modules had to be replaced with replacement membranes shipped by DuPont because of membrane failures, leaks, and defects. Subsequently DuPont shipped 17 new membranes to replace some of the 72 defective replacement membranes. To this date the replacement membranes continue to fail, crack, and develop leaks. City water treatment operations staff has spent numerous hours troubleshooting, repairing, and replacing these faulty membranes. As of today, only 59 of the 72 DuPont replacement membranes are in use, and the City is continually having to ask DuPont to send replacements for the defective membranes. This process is lengthy since DuPont requests that the City return the membranes to DuPont headquarters in Minnesota for analysis. DuPont then ships replacement membranes from their manufacturing facility in China after they analyze the returned membranes. Then, manufacturing and shipping from China can take six months or more. Meanwhile, the City’s water treatment capacity is diminished.
For this reason, the City added the successful installation, years in service, and membrane potting requirements to the current bid. The City cannot risk jeopardizing the City’s water treatment capacity and supply with the installation of unproven membranes which are prone to failure. Scinor has protested the City’s rejection of their bid. However, Scinor’s bid did not meet the requirements of the bid, and Scinor’s protest did not comply with the City’s ordinance for timeliness of the formal bid protest submittal.
The City notified Scinor and Toray that their bids did not meet the requirements (see attached notices) and then negotiated a lower price with the next responsible bidder (Pall Water) in accordance with city, state, and federal regulations.
The City negotiated a total price of $335,000 which is a savings of $46,831.43 below the bid price.
FUNDING SOURCE / FISCAL IMPACT:
This project is fully funded in the approved FY 2021 CIP, account 4305336-606400-21001.
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the City Manager to issue a purchase order to the most responsible bidder, Pall Water (Danaher Corporation) for the purchase of 216 membrane modules, accessory sets and 14 spare parts sets for the North Water Treatment Plant (NWTP) in the negotiated amount of $335,00.00 as per ITB #2020-028.
POTENTIAL MOTION:
“I move to authorize the City Manager to issue a purchase order to the most responsible bidder, Pall Water (Danaher Corporation) for the purchase of 216 membrane modules, accessory sets and 14 spare parts sets for the North Water Treatment Plant (NWTP) in the negotiated amount of $335,00.00 as per ITB #2020-028.”