Agenda Item Wording:
title
Award a contract for Sulfatreat 410CHP media - Authorize the City Manager to award a 5-year sole source contract to Schlumberger Purification Solutions for the supply of Sulfatreat 410CHP media for the Water Reclamation Facility, not to exceed $80,000 per year, totaling $400,000 over the life of the contract.
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Deadline for Action: 11/4/2024
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Ben Litwack, Public Works Manager, (559)713-4671, ben.litwack@visalia.city;
Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, (559) 713-4052, nick.bartsch@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to award a 5-year sole source contract to Schlumberger Purification Solutions for the supply of Sulfatreat 410CHP media to the Water Reclamation Facility, not to exceed $80,000 per year, totaling $400,000 over the life of the contract.
Background Discussion:
The Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) upgrades in 2017 originally included the installation of a Renewable Power Generation System (RPGS) to generate power. The plans were initially approved by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Unfortunately, a combination of regulatory hurdles, delays with contractors, and delays in coordination efforts with the local electrical utility have deferred commissioning of the RPGS for several years. As a result, most of the 5-year contracts established during the construction of the RPGS have since expired and, now that the start-up of the system is nearing, need to be re-established.
Anaerobic digestion is utilized as a part of the treatment process at the WRF. A by-product of anaerobic digestion is renewable bio-gas. Bio-gas can be used as a fuel source as it has a fuel content of about 65% of that of natural gas. Bio-gas at the WRF will be used to fuel the RPGS, which produces electricity that will be used at the WRF to reduce the amount of power that must be purchased from the local electrical provider.
Bio-gas naturally contains various impurities, including corrosive hydrogen sulfide (H2S) compounds. In order to protect the RPGS and to comply with the Air Pollution Control District’s emission standards, the hydrogen sulfide concentration in the bio-gas must be reduced to less than 10 parts per million. This is accomplished using two techniques. First, ferric chloride is added to the anaerobic digestion process to limit the production of H2S to below 200 parts per million (ppm). Second, the bio-gas passes through a media which absorbs H2S, thus reducing the concentration below 10 ppm.
There are several types of H2S removal media available in the marketplace, all with different performance and use characteristics. During project design, laboratory tests were conducted on the WRF’s bio-gas to determine the media that would be most effective for the City. As a result, the system was designed a sized based on the use of Sulfatreat media, a proprietary product manufactured by Schlumberger Purification Solutions. They are the sole provider of this product.
Fiscal Impact:
Schlumberger’s quoted price for the Sulfatreat media, associated filters, freight, and tax is $67,212.46. An annual not to exceed amount of $80,000 is being requested to cover incidental variances in freight costs and anticipated rising costs due to inflation. Annually, $265,000 is budgeted within Capital Improvement Project CP0440 (Anaerobic Digester Gas Cleaning) from the WRF Fund (431) to cover these types of expenses.
Prior Council Action: 05/09/2019 - Council granted authorization to award an annual sole source contract to Schlumberger Purification Solutions with the option to renew up to four consecutive one-year terms.
Other: N/A
Alternatives: N/A
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
Authorize the City Manager to award a 5-year sole source contract to Schlumberger Purification Solutions for the supply of Sulfatreat 410CHP media to the Water Reclamation Facility, not to exceed $80,000 per year, totaling $400,000 over the life of the contract.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments:
Sulfatreat Quote
Levine Act
Sole Source Statement