Sparks City Council Meeting 6/8/2015 2:00:00 PM

    Monday, June 8, 2015 2:00 PM
    Council Chambers, Legislative Bldg, 745 4th St., Sparks

General Business: 9.8

Title: Consideration and possible approval of an interlocal agreement with the University of Nevada for the performance of an investigation into the feasibility of granular activated carbon for the treatment of dissolved organic nitrogen in an amount not to exceed $44,357.00.
Petitioner/Presenter: Neil C. Krutz, P.E. – Deputy City Manager/Michael Drinkwater, P.E. – Treatment Plant Manager
Recommendation: Staff recommends City Council approve the interlocal agreement.
Financial Impact: There is no impact to the General Fund. There remains $1,279,166.16 in appropriations for professional services supporting Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) operations for Fiscal Year 2014-2015, approved by Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) on April 2, 2014. This expense will be charged to TMWRF, Fund 5605, Account 603242, Professional Services- Other, under Program 131505, TMWRF Operations. Following quarterly reconciliation of TMWRF’s operating expenses, affecting the Sanitary Sewer Operations fund (1630), Sparks is quantifying reimbursement from the City of Reno based on actual flow splits provided by ADS Environmental. The flow split for the quarter ending March 31, 2015, Fiscal Year 2014-2015, was 34.09% / 65.91% for the Cities of Sparks and Reno respectively and the approximate split is outlined in Table 1.
Total Costs: $44,357.00
Fund: Joint Treatment Plant    Account: 603242
Program: TMWRF Operations (131505)
Amount: $44,357.00    Budget Status: Budget Exists
Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
     A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.
Agenda Item Brief:

City staff is asking the City Council to approve the interlocal agreement to allow University faculty to perform an investigation into the feasibility of using granular activated carbon for the removal of dissolved organic nitrogen from the wastewater effluent, in an amount not to exceed $44,357.00.



Background:

The Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility treats the majority of the municipal wastewater for the Truckee Meadows and all of the wastewater for the City of Sparks.  The facility is regulated on 20 different discharge limits for the treatment plant effluent that is returned to the Truckee River.  Currently the most restrictive limitation is Total Nitrogen.  Total nitrogen is composed of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and organic nitrogen, both particulate and dissolved.  The treatment plant does not currently remove the dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and it is this fraction that comprises the majority of the nitrogen in the plant’s effluent.



Analysis:

TMWRF staff intends to work with faculty from the University of Nevada’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to perform a pilot scale study of the feasibility of the use of granular activated carbon for the removal of DON.  This investigation will experiment with several types of carbon to determine the efficiency of the process, which will help determine the size of the needed reactor and the expected life of the carbon media.  These results can then be used to estimate capital and operational costs if a full scale process was to be constructed.  This investigation is in support of the City of Sparks’ Strategic Goal 3.2, “Identify long-term wastewater nutrient removal technologies and plan for their implementation in the TMWRF CIP”.



Alternatives:
  1.  The City Council could approve the agreement as presented by staff
  2.  The City Council could reject the agreement and provide direction to the City Manager


Recommended Motion:

I move to approve the interlocal agreement with the University of Nevada for the granular activated carbon analysis in an amount not to exceed $44,357.00.



Attached Files:
     Table 1.pdf
     OSP-1500887.Marchand.pdf
     TMWRF UNR INTERLOCAL 5.18.15xx.pdf
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