Title
Staff Report for a Resolution of the City of San Leandro City Council to Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Non-Professional Services Agreement with Solenis, LLC for $760,000 Over Five Years for Polymer Selection and Supply Services for the Water Pollution Control Plant, and to Authorize Purchasing Up To $100,000 of Polymer from SNF Polydyne.
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends City Council adopt a Resolution to approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a Non-Professional Services Agreement with Solenis, LLC for the selection and supply of polymer for dewatering processes at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). In addition, in order to ensure functional polymer is available, staff recommends that the City Council authorize purchasing up to $100,000 of polymer from SNF Polydyne, Inc. in Fiscal Year 2019-20.
BACKGROUND
Polymer is a chemical used in the wastewater industry to “thicken” solids streams after the solids are removed from the wastewater. At the WPCP, polymer is used in two processes: to thicken solids removed from the secondary process and to thicken solids removed from the digester to prepare them for drying.
Because of subtle differences in the constituents of the water, no single polymer works the best in every process at every treatment plant. Therefore, it is necessary to find the best polymer through testing of polymers both in the lab and in real-world tests. In addition, most wastewater constituents change over time and polymer companies are constantly developing new and better products. How the polymer is mixed and applied may also make a difference for how much polymer is needed. For these reasons, service is a critical component of polymer procurement.
The WPCP has been using the same polymer since 2013, after receiving a bid through the Bay Area Chemical Consortium (BACC). The BACC no longer includes polymer in their bid process, so WPCP staff opened a Request for Proposals for polymer selection and supply.
Analysis
In August 2019, the City opened a formal Request for Proposals process and received two proposals, from Solenis, LLC and the current supplier, SNF Polydyne. City staff used a standardized rating matrix to rate the proposals for both quality of service and price. Each company came to the WPCP to demonstrate their testing protocols and make their recommendation of the most effective polymer. In addition, staff contacted references for both companies. Solenis, LLC was the top-ranked proposal, largely because of their thorough testing protocol and excellent references.
The Solenis product costs about 16% more than the competing product on a per-pound basis. However, staff believes this price difference will likely be compensated for by engaging the Solenis representative to optimize the process and ultimately using less polymer per pound of solids treated. The WPCP maintains detailed records on the amount of polymer used per pound of solids treated. These records will be used to compare the new polymer with the incumbent polymer to determine differences in the total cost of the polymer. If the new polymer continues to cost more than the current polymer or service levels fail to meet expectations, the City will retain the right to return to SNF Polydyne.
At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2019-20, the City opened a purchase order with SNF Polydyne for $48,654.92, based on a renewal agreement from their BACC bid. This is enough to supply polymer through November 2019. However, in order to be sure that there is enough polymer to last until the new polymer is fully tested, staff requests authorization to purchase an additional $51,345.08 from SNF Polydyne, up to a total of $100,000.
Fiscal Impacts
There may be some increase in polymer expenditure in the second half of Fiscal Year 2020 as the new polymer is tested and optimized. However, staff expects this to return to baseline in subsequent years. Funding for purchase of polymer is through the WPCP’s Enterprise Fund budget account 593-51-002-6290.
Budget Authority
Staff will request a purchase order for $82,000 with Solenis, LLC for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2019-20. In addition, staff will request a change order to purchase order number 57877 (with SNF Polydyne) to increase the total amount to $100,000. While there are not sufficient funds in this account for both encumbrances, staff anticipates there will be no need to fully expend both purchase orders. While the account may be negative due to the encumbered funds, until the new polymer is selected, staff does not expect to exceed the $315,000 budget for this fiscal year.
Attachments
• Request for Proposals No. 58012
Attachment to Related Legislative File
• Non-Professional Services Agreement with Solenis, LLC.
PREPARED BY: Justin Jenson, Water Pollution Control Plant Manager
Hayes Morehouse, Water Pollution Control Plant Administrative Analyst II