Top: Fast-paced growth in Forsyth County, Ga., led to a need for additional wastewater treatment services. The 1.25 mgd Fowler Water Reclamation Facility, commissioned under a design-build-operation agreement, began operations in 2004. Bottom: This 3.6 mgd water treatment facility in Marlboro, Mass., provides a supplemental source of drinking water to approximately 76,000 business and residential customers. It is operated by a staff of three. Photos: Woodard & Curran
The North Fort Myers, Fla., utility is a 3.5 mgd wastewater treatment facility serving 15,500 customers. It is operated by a staff of nine.
Writing an RFP for ConOpsGetting from Here to There: Selecting the Best Wastewater Management Option for Your Community, published by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission and the New England Interstate Environmental Training Center, under a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provides these tips for a smooth, efficient, and effective request for proposals/quotation process:
Name a contractor-selection committee to bring many viewpoints to bear on the decision, and to achieve consensus.Provide an adequate length of time for bidders to evaluate your systems and prepare a creative proposal. Too often, service firms are tasked with trying to learn everything about a million-dollar budget organization in less than 30 days. To update a simple ancient adage, “haste will certainly lead to waste.”Seek input from current staff. No one knows the plant processes and requirements more intimately.Hold all bidders to the same level of accountability.Reveal current financial and operating data to the bidders to avoid unpleasant surprises, in terms of unanticipated costs, for you and the firm you select.