The dewatering facility at TMWRF prepares biological sludge for landfill disposal by separating the majority of the liquid from the biosolids.  The dewatering of the solids is necessary to meet landfill disposal requirements.  Over the past several years there has been an increased amount of solids loading arriving at the facility from growth throughout the service area and as a result of new process improvements.  This has affected the efficiency of the existing equipment reducing the reliable capacity, increasing operational costs and reduced centrate quality which further increases operational costs and negatively impacts downstream processes. In early 2019, Brown and Caldwell Inc. was engaged to assist with dewatering technology screening and piloting testing support for dewatering centrifuges.  The results of that project support the purchase of a third centrifuge and related equipment to provide the necessary treatment capacity in the dewatering process.

To facilitate the completion of the dewatering improvements the project will proceed in two separate phases.  Once the detailed design is sufficiently complete, the City of Reno will pre-purchase the centrifuge and cake pump, while the related equipment and building modifications will proceed as a traditional design-bid-build project.  This approach is in an effort to avoid long lead times for manufactured equipment with a subsequent delay in project completion.

The scope of work includes drafting purchasing specifications for the centrifuge and cake pump, a preliminary engineering report for the polymer storage and delivery system, and detailed plans and technical specifications for bidding the project and bidding assistance for the identified improvements and purchased equipment.

Brown and Caldwell Inc. is a qualified consulting engineering firm capable of performing the proposed work.  The total cost of the project design is $584,698.00.  The City of Reno engineering staff will manage the project with Sparks’ reimbursing Reno pro rata based on TMWRF ownership.  Based on the current ownership ratio of 31.37% Sparks and 68.63% Reno, The City of Sparks share of this agreement is $183,419.76

1. City Council may approve the agreement as presented by staff
2. City Council may reject the agreement and direct the Manager to have staff investigate alternatives.

I move to approve the consulting agreement (AC-5720) between the City of Reno, City of Sparks and Brown and Caldwell (B&C) for the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) Dewatering System Improvements Project in an amount of not to exceed $584,698.00 with Sparks’ share being $183,419.76.