The Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) is jointly owned by the Cities of Reno and Sparks. The City of Reno oversees the Capital Improvement Program for TMWRF, while the City of Sparks manages operations. The discharge permit for the facility requires the removal of nitrogen to very low levels.  The first step in this process is to convert ammonia to nitrate in the nitrification towers.  TMWRF has 6 nitrification towers, four constructed in 1985 and two in 1999.  The efficiency of these towers in the removal of nitrogen from sewage is impacted by a variety of factors including loading rate, temperature and other constituent that may be present in the effluent. The critical nature of the nitrification towers coupled with recent performance deficits has called into question their long-term reliability as a treatment process.  The current proposal is intended to evaluate the mechanical, electrical and structural condition of the towers.  Upon completion of the current evaluation it is anticipated that this scope of work will be amended to allow for design of selected recommended improvements to the Nitrification Towers.

The scope of work being proposed for Brown and Caldwell Engineering encompasses an evaluation of the nitrogen removal facilities at the TMWRF through field investigations, operations staff interviews, operational data review, process modeling, and prepare a report recommending improvements to process, media, chemical usage, structure, electrical, instrumentation, and control aspects of the facilities.

The City of Reno will administer the contract and will be reimbursed for a portion of the costs by the City of Sparks through the Sparks – Reno cost sharing agreement for TMWRF.  The City of Reno and the City of Sparks share the cost for this project based upon their ownership of TMWRF, which is 68.63% for Reno and 31.37% for Sparks. Based on the ownership percentages, Reno’s share is up to $145,495.60 and Sparks share is up to $66,504.40.

Cost Sharing between Reno and Sparks – see attachment 1

Council could direct the City Manager to have staff provide other alternatives.Council could direct the manager to have staff provide other alternatives.

I move to approve the reimbursement to the City of Reno for Sparks’ share of the consulting agreement with Brown and Caldwell Engineering for the Nitrification Tower Rehabilitation and Improvement Project an amount not-to-exceed $66,504.40.