San Antonio Water System

The San Antonio Water System, hereafter referred to SAWS or Water System, is pursuing a request for qualifications (RFQ) for professional engineering services for the 2020 SAWS Wastewater Facilities Master Plan for Water Recycling Centers Project, hereafter referred to as Master Plan or Project).  Statements of qualifications (SOQs) from interested firms (Respondents) are being accepted in connection with this Project, which will require the scope of services to be performed by a qualified professional engineering firm (Consultant).  The selected Consultant will provide engineering services entailing: i) preparation of a Wastewater Facilities Master Plan that provides a comprehensive review and evaluation of the SAWS Water Recycling Centers (WRCs) for existing conditions and an overall vision for a 20-yr planning period (2022-2042) for the liquid and solid streams, and ii) development of an interactive tool that is able to provide options for the required capital improvement projects whether, rehabilitation, upgrade, and expansion, for the WRCs and associated infrastructure for the planning period.  The tool shall provide for options based on a sensitivity analysis to consider the current regulatory environment, current flows, projected flows and other permitting or operational needs.  The tool shall provide for phasing considerations, engineer’s opinion of probable construction costs, and preliminary implementation schedules.

The purpose of this Master Plan is to evaluate the existing WRCs in order to make recommendations on improvements and expansions for current and future needs.  This plan will serve as a strategic document for the implementation of short- and long-term capital improvement projects not only based on growth but also on anticipated regulatory developments and SAWS ability to implement projects from a cost and schedule perspective.

The key objectives of the Master Plan are as follows:

1.    Evaluate the capacity and capability of existing facilities to meet the current and anticipated near-future (within the next permit renewal cycle) permitting and regulatory requirements.

2.    Assess current plant conditions, existing processes, equipment and operations to determine any immediate/short-term modifications and/or upgrades needed for continued compliance.

3.    Provide recommendations for improvement and/or expansion needs to proactively address growth while also complying with anticipated future regulatory and permitting requirements for the planning period.

4.    Establish a flexible capital improvements planning program (for the planning period) to effectively implement proposed improvements and expansions in a timely manner.

5.    Develop an interactive decision-making tool to facilitate the implementation of proposed improvement(s) in a flexible manner whereas SAWS can consider alternatives depending on actual criteria (e.g. flows, regulatory). The types of alternatives SAWS will consider need to be defined as part of the tool development process.