FPUD rejects bids for granulated activated carbon system

The Fallbrook Public Utility District will be repeating the bid process for granular activated carbon treatment system equipment.

A 5-0 FPUD board vote Oct. 27 rejected both bids submitted earlier in the month and directed district staff to readvertise the procurement of the treatment equipment for bid. Because FPUD combines the district's November and December board meetings, the next FPUD board meeting will be Dec. 7 and the new bids are expected to be considered at that meeting.

"The board voted unanimously to reject all the bids and rebid the project," said FPUD General Manager Jack Bebee. "A bid protest was filed by one of the bidders, and our legal counsel felt the best way to protect the district is to just rebid the entire project. It will be brought back to the board at the next regular board meeting."

During the Jan. 27 board meeting, the board voted 5-0 to amend its design contract for the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project so that the groundwater treatment plant can also remove per and polyfluoroalkyl substances contaminants from the treated water. FPUD staff recommended treating the PFAS contaminants with a combination of granular activated carbon and reverse osmosis.

The groundwater treatment plant utilizes greensand filters for iron and manganese removal followed by reverse osmosis and chlorination. Reverse osmosis removes more than 99% of salts which pass through the process, so some flow bypasses the reverse osmosis process to meet the district's overall salt target. The design contract amendment produced design documents for the additional granular activated carbon facilities.

The granular activated carbon treatment system will include three pairs of large vessels with a 12-foot diameter and a height of approximately 20 feet. Those vessels currently require approximately nine months to obtain, so a bid package for procurement of the treatment equipment was prepared so that the project could remain on schedule. The deadline for submittal of bids was Oct. 8.

Calgon Carbon Corporation and AqueoUS Vets submitted bids. The Calgon Carbon Corporation bid was for $1,254,578 and the AqueoUS Vets proposal had a bid amount of $1,565,333.99. The contract will include disadvantaged business requirements, and AqueoUS Vets filed a bid protest on the grounds that the Calgon Carbon proposal did not adequately address the disadvantaged business requirements.

FPUD reviewed the Calgon Carbon bid and also consulted with the state Department of Water Resources, which is providing a State Revolving Fund loan for the Conjunctive Use Project. The Calgon Carbon bid was deemed non responsive.

Because the only other bid was $310,756 higher than the apparent low bid FPUD staff recommended that the board reject all bids and readvertise the project. The board chose that option over awarding the contract to the second-lowest bidder. The designation of the Calgon Carbon bid as nonresponsive does not prevent that company from submitting a new bid meeting the disadvantaged business requirements.