Privatization of the Natural Gas, Water, and Wastewater Utility Systems

The Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) seeks to identify and obtain information from responsible sources in connection with the privatization of the natural gas distribution (NAICS 221210), water distribution (NAICS 221310), and wastewater collection (NAICS 221320) utility systems at Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB), Arkansas. Privatization is defined as the conveyance of a utility system to a municipal, private, regional, district, or cooperative utility company or other entity. The conveyance may consist of all right, title, and interest of the United States in the utility system. Utility Privatization (UP) will be accomplished in accordance with 10 U.S.C. - 2688 - Utility Systems: Conveyance Authority. Contractor will be required to assume ownership of the natural gas, water, and wastewater utility systems at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, and as the new owner, shall operate and maintain the system and provide utility services to the Government. Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, management, supervision, permits, equipment, supplies, materials, transportation, and any other incidental items or services required for the complete ownership of and provision of utility services via these utility systems, including operation, maintenance, repair, upgrades, and improvements to the utility systems. This Sources Sought Notice (hereinafter - Notice) is an essential step in determining market interest and feasibility. Responses received will be used to develop marketing strategies for the potential privatization of utilities at this installation. Should interest be determined sufficient, a formal solicitation may be forthcoming. Interested parties should provide a statement of interest on company letterhead by no later than 3:00 pm EST on Monday, March 2, 2009. Responses are preferred via e-mail, but hard copies and facsimiles will also be accepted. At a minimum, the statement of interest shall address: (1) capability and experience in utility privatization or owning and operating utility systems; (2) financial capability to justify potential award of such a contract; (3) a primary point of contact, including phone number and e-mail address; and (4) an indication of the size of the business (large, small, or any sub-category of small business). The potential opportunity for set-asides for small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses will be considered on the basis of the responses received. This Notice is solely for the Government's use as a market research tool. As such, the issuance of a competitive solicitation is not guaranteed. If determined appropriate, then both a synopsis and a solicitation may be anticipated in the April 2009 timeframe. All responsible sources are encouraged to submit a response to this Notice. All information received will be considered. Failure to respond to this Notice does not preclude a firm from offering on any resultant solicitation; however, a lack of interest in this requirement may keep this effort from moving forward competitively. This announcement shall not be construed as a commitment or authorization to incur costs in anticipation of an award. The Government is not bound to make any awards under this Notice. If you are interested in this project, please provide the information requested above to the DESC Contracting Office. Installation Description The natural gas distribution system being privatized is described as follows: Entergy supplies natural gas to Little Rock AFB at one primary connection located at the Base's southern boundary. This connection point is composed of a pressure regulation and metering station inside a structure located within a fenced area owned by Entergy. Odorization is provided by the natural gas supplier. There are no Government-owned odorization facilities associated with the natural gas system included in the Utilities Privatization solicitation. The main regulation station owned by Entergy regulates the natural gas supply pressure to the seasonal operational pressure of 20 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) in the summer and 45 psig in the winter. Service regulators accomplish further reduction in pressure to between 8 and 11 inches of water or to the pressure required by specific operations. Natural gas is used to meet space and water heating requirements in non-residential buildings on Base. MFH units are not currently served by the natural gas distribution system. The natural gas distribution system at Little Rock AFB consists of piping mains, valves, vaults, valve boxes, service lines, service regulators, meters, and impressed current and sacrificial anode cathodic protection systems for metallic piping and valves. Approximately 58 percent of the piping is original steel piping from the 1950s. The natural gas distribution system was originally constructed in the mid 1950s and has since been expanded to handle increased system demands. Replacement of the original metallic piping with polyethylene (PE) piping, which is the preferred material for current replacements, began in the mid 1970s. Standard installation practices are to install tracer wire or tape with plastic piping; however, it is not known for certain if all plastic piping was installed with tracer wire or tape. It is estimated that approximately 70 percent of the plastic piping was installed with tracer wire or tape. The average burial depth for buried natural gas system infrastructure is estimated at 3 feet below ground surface. This burial depth was estimated and there may be areas of the Base with deeper burial depths. For example, portions of the system along Chief Williams drive are as deep as 9 feet below ground surface. The prevailing subsurface at Little Rock AFB is rock and/or slate. Overall, approximately 5 percent of the system is underneath paved surfaces. The distribution system serving the majority of the Base has a 6-inch diameter steel pipe loop with lateral taps off the loop. A 2-inch diameter PE pipe loop services the east side of the Base and connects to the main 6-inch loop at two points. The majority of the system can be fed from at least two different paths. In addition to the PE pipe on east side of the system, service lines to the buildings are replaced with PE pipe when replacement is warranted. Little Rock AFB has approximately 130,600 lf of piping (mains and services to the facilities). The diameter of the piping ranges from - to 8 inches in diameter. Each building served by the natural gas system (not all buildings on Base are served) has at least one regulator to lower the gas pressure for equipment and appliance use. There are no district pressure regulator stations. Meters are used for internal charging (reimbursement) and energy management. Currently, all the Base-owned meters are read through a service contract. Entergy performs an annual leakage survey under a service contract through the Base Civil Engineer. At times, this contract has included provisions to make repairs to the system as leaks were identified. The sole-source contract award to Entergy calls for a leak-survey report, categorization of the detected leaks, notifying Base infrastructure personnel of leaks requiring immediate attention, and providing a cost estimate for each repair needed to the system. Overall, there are few leaks in the majority of the system. Most of the leak-repair work is due to contractor excavations. If the natural gas system being solicited is privatized, the sole source leak-survey contract and the meter-reading contract will be discontinued on contract start date. The Little Rock AFB natural gas distribution system utilizes both impressed current and sacrificial anode cathodic protection systems to minimize corrosion. Readings of the cathodic protection rectifiers are taken monthly. Copies of the readings are maintained in a data repository and summarized in an annual report. A copy of the performance survey data is included in the Bidders Library. The water distribution system being privatized is described as follows: Little Rock AFB purchases drinking water from the City of Jacksonville water system. Lake Winona and Lake Maumelle are two of the water sources the City of Jacksonville (Arkansas) Water Department uses to provide drinking water. The City also uses 11 wells in Lonoke County to provide drinking water. Little Rock AFB's drinking water comes from lakes and is not mixed with well water; the lake water is conveyed through several water systems before reaching Little Rock AFB. The primary connection to Jacksonville's system is from the City's 5-million gallon (MG) storage tank that is located adjacent to the south perimeter of the Base's area. Water flows by gravity from the City's storage tank to the Base's low-pressure transfer pump station at Facility 2998 through a 16-inch ductile-iron water pipe with cement-mortar lining. The water is metered as it enters the low-pressure pump station. A second emergency connection is located south of Facility 1078 and is connected to the City of Jacksonville's 12 inch water main that runs along the Base's perimeter. This second emergency connection is also metered. Additionally, a third connection point supplies water to the golf course irrigation system. The piping associated with this third connection point is not part of the UP Solicitation. The low-pressure transfer pump station (Facility 2998) pumps water into the Base's main storage reservoir. The water is pumped by two centrifugal variable speed pumps, each with individual capacity of 2,214 gallons per minute (gpm). System controls limit operations to one pump; the second pump is reserved as a backup pump. The pumps typically operate at about 1,700 gpm. The Base's main storage reservoir is a 1.28-MG ground-level storage reservoir adjacent to Facility 570 (high-service pump station). The high-service pump station (Facility 570) houses three centrifugal pumps and the Base's water treatment (disinfection) system. The high-service pump station pumps water into the Base's water distribution system using two pumps in a rotating sequence. One of the centrifugal pumps is rated at 600 gpm and two are rated at 1,100 gpm. The pumps are operated in parallel with Pump 1 (the 600-gpm pump) as the principal pump since the disinfection system is connected to that pump. The Base uses mixed-oxidant solution for disinfection. The other two pumps provide additional support to Pump 1. The water distribution system also includes one recirculation pump station (Facility 1373). The pump moves water through the flightline area of the Base and reduces the stagnation and residual low-disinfectant water. The water distribution system consists of approximately 43.4 miles of buried water main piping (which ranges in size from 6 to 16 inches). Three types of piping material are used for water mains at Little Rock AFB: approximately 80,400 linear feet (lf) of cast-iron pipe was installed in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s; 7,900 lf of ductile iron pipe with cement-mortar lining installed in the 2000s; and about 141,400 lf of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe has been installed since the 1980s. PVC is the material of choice for water-line replacement. Standard installation practices are to install tracer wire or marking tape with PVC piping mains. Nearly all mains have been installed with tracer wire or marking tape. Water mains are typically installed with a 4-foot burial depth and approximately 5 percent of the system is underneath paved surfaces. The prevailing subsurface at Little Rock AFB is rock and/or slate. In addition to the water mains, the water distribution system consists of approximately 9.6 miles buried service lines (which range in size from 3/4-inch service lines to 4-inch water lines). Four types of material are used for service lines at Little Rock AFB: approximately 1,700 lf of cast-iron piping, 1,900 lf of galvanized steel piping, 22,700 lf of copper piping, and 24,300 lf of PVC piping installed from the 1940s through the 2000s. All four types of service lines are currently in operation. Three water-storage tanks support the potable water-storage requirements for Little Rock AFB. One ground-level storage reservoir with a capacity of 1.28 MG (Tank 578) and two horizontal hydro-pneumatic tanks (Tanks 572 and 574), each with a storage capacity of 30,000 gallons, provide water for daily residential, industrial, and fire-fighting demands throughout the Base. The three main potable water storage tanks (Tanks 572, 574, and 578) are protected with cathodic protection systems. Little Rock AFB provides limited water treatment. The Base provides disinfection treatment and corrosion control. The other water quality requirements are controlled by the City of Jacksonville. Little Rock AFB is within compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Disinfection and Disinfection By-product Regulations; however, trihalomethane (THM) concentrations at several locations are very close to exceeding the standard during the warm summer months. This is due to the warm water temperature and the long time (over 10 days) chlorine is in contact with the water. Little Rock AFB recommends UP Contractor continue managing chlorine residuals through operational controls already in place; and develop measures to increase water usage to reduce water age. The following bullets summarize known conditions the Government has observed for the Little Rock AFB water distribution system. The conditions listed represent items of concern that may impact the systems ability to maintain reliable service and water quality. The following conditions may not include all items of concern on the system that could impact the system's reliability and are provided to illustrate a general understanding of the system's condition. If the system is sold, the Government will not address these conditions. - Elimination of all dead end loops - Work Order Q8570, use of H2O MAP for re-design and engineering. - CAWS Connection - Work Order R4715, H2O MAP designed/ cost estimated, work with City for possible - window usage (early summer 5 million gallon tank bypass). - SCADA Expansion - Identify problem areas (low flow. Excessive water age, low chlorine, pH variance, metering sites for I&I Review) once SCADA is installed and use H2O MAP to design improvements. - Replace Pump Station 570 - recommended by AFIOH study. - Interim Plan - Provide a temporary bypass around the 5 million gallon reservoir during late spring and early summer (periods when THM formation is the highest), continue water main flushing, develop unidirectional flushing program, continue to monitor THMs in residential areas and flush water mains when concentrations are too high or chlorine levels are too low, and manage chlorine residuals throughout the distribution system both manually and with SCADA system. The wastewater collection system being privatized is described as follows: The wastewater collection system at Little Rock AFB consists of approximately 198,700 linear feet (lf) of gravity collection mains and services, 31,400 lf of force mains, 20 lift stations, and 860 manholes. There are no wastewater treatment facilities on the Installation. The City of Jacksonville, Arkansas, treats the Base's wastewater at its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). There are fourteen wastewater meters, including the billing meter at the discharge to the City of Jacksonville, located throughout the wastewater collection system. Six of these metered locations, including the billing meter, also have automatic samplers associated with them. Thirteen of the flow meters and five of the samplers are located at strategic points within the collection system to address the I/I issues on the installation and to track discharge permit exceedances, if they occur. The off-Base billing meter and associated sampler is located at the end of the Base-owned pipeline in a meter vault approximately 2 miles south of the Base boundary on South Redmond Road. Currently, all these Base-owned meters are maintained through a service contract. Vitrified clay and concrete pipe was used extensively to construct the system when the Base was built in the mid 1950s, and they are still the most common pipe type in the system. Over 50 percent of the vitrified clay mains have been slip-lined. It is not known if any tracer wire or tape was used when collection piping was installed. It is assumed that there is no tracer wire or tape for any wastewater collection piping. The average burial depth for buried infrastructure is 10 feet below ground surface. This burial depth was estimated and there are areas of the Base with deeper burial depths. The prevailing subsurface at Little Rock AFB is rock and/or slate. Overall, approximately 20 percent of the system is underneath paved surfaces. The 20 lift stations vary by type, but most are either submersible or flooded-suction type. Two of the lift stations (270 and 3001) are primary lift stations; the remaining 18 lift stations service individual buildings or groups of buildings. The lift stations at Buildings 122, 126, 270, 590 (Fam Camp), 1378, 1500, and 3001 are new and are in very good condition. The stations at Buildings 118, 249, 392, 1342, and 1994 are not new, but are in good condition. Other lift stations are located at Building 110A, 162 (supporting Building 160), 258, 294, 298, 1585, 1706, and 1714, condition unknown. The manholes are generally the same age as the pipelines. Most of the manholes are constructed of tile or brick, but newer installations are made of pre-cast concrete sections. Older brick manholes are currently being rehabilitated by installing liners to reduce infiltration and inflow (I/I). Wastewater from Base housing empties into a force main, which sends the wastewater to a lift station. From the lift station, the piping turns to 15-inch gravity main. From main Base, the wastewater empties into a 12-inch force main, which transitions to a 15-inch gravity line from another pump station. Both sets of wastewater flows then enter a common 15-inch line. The 15-inch line transitions to a 24-inch line at Manhole 0-39A. From the Base boundary, the waste is conveyed through approximately 2 miles of pipe, which is owned and maintained by the Base, to the Jacksonville WWTP. Little Rock AFB performed extensive closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspections in MFH starting in 1985. Based on the results of the CCTV inspection a significant portion of the mains in MFH were slip-lined. More recently, Little Rock AFB initiated a program to inspect buried piping and manholes using CCTV and performed a system-wide capacity study in 2005. The CCTV inspection program was developed in response to notification from the City of Jacksonville to reduce the Base's I/I rate. The average wastewater discharge at the outfall for the last 5 fiscal years is approximately 1.23 million gallons per day (mgd). During this same period, Little Rock AFB purchased an average of approximately 0.65 mgd of potable water from the City of Jacksonville. The program to inspect buried piping and manholes consists of using CCTV to inspect the buried piping in an area of the Base. Following an evaluation of the CCTV logs to identify, locate, and categorize the deficiencies, the Base prepares and bids a contract to correct the deficiencies. Piping corrections can include point repairs, slip-lining a segment between manholes, or replacing complete sections of pipe. Three projects have been completed under the program to date. The first two projects included two areas within the MFH portion of the Base, which was identified in 1985 as the area with the highest I/I contribution. The third project, completed in 2006, corrected deficiencies identified with the main trunk line adjacent to the tarmac in the East Flightline Area. The amount of infrastructure inspected and repaired for each project varies based on available funding. The CCTV data collected to date provides information on the functionality of the pipe, pipe material, pipe size, pipe sags, joint conditions, debris in the pipe, active service taps, root intrusion, and evidence of infiltration or ex-filtration. Identified deficiencies include cracks in the pipe, separated joints, offset joints, and leakage inside manholes. Pipe repairs include point repairs, replacement of segments of pipe, and resealing penetrations into manholes. In at least three instances, the entire segments of piping between manholes have been replaced as part of the three completed projects. The CCTV information indicates the older lines that have not been slip-lined are in poor condition and should be replaced. Based on the CCTV logs, it is assumed that older vitrified clay, cast-iron, and concrete lines that were not evaluated using CCTV technology probably also require replacement. Point failures in slip-lined and new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) segments of piping have also been identified in the available data. The identified deficiencies are not as common; however, a significant number of the deficiencies in the slip-lined and PVC pipe are at manhole penetrations and joint locations. Little Rock AFB appears to be experiencing differential settlement along the system, which results in offset joints and construction phasing problems. A hydraulic capacity study was completed between 25 October 2005 and 15 January 2006. The study divided the Base into five sub areas. Flow meters were installed in the exit manhole for each sub-area. The flow data was evaluated and an analysis of the dry weather flow and rainfall-dependent infiltration and inflow (RDII) coefficient for I/I during rainfall events was determined for each sub area. The measured average dry weather flow from the study reasonably aligns with the last 2.5 years of wastewater meter readings at the outfall to the City of Jacksonville. The normalized RDII values on a gallon per inch of rainfall per foot of pipe for the five sub areas can be an indication of areas on the Base that may have I/I issues. The larger the RDII value, the greater the contribution to I/I that would be expected to enter the system. Normalized RDII on a per-inch-of-rainfall-per-foot-of-pipe basis for the five sub-areas were as follows: - T1 (East Flightline area), RDII=3.20 - TS2 (South Maintenance area), RDII=1.13 - T3 (West Flightline area), RDII=0.37 - T4 (MFH), RDII=2.97 - T5 (Administrative and commercial area), RDII=4.56 The highest potential contributing area to I/I would be expected to be the T5 area. This area has the largest percentage of older pipe that has not been slip-lined or repaired. The RDII value for the T4 area appears higher than expected, based on the fact that two recent upgrade projects were completed in this area prior to performing the capacity study. However, the northwest corner of the MFH area and the piping extending from the east edge of the MFH area to the main trunk line exiting the Base have not been inspected or repaired; these areas are included in the T4 area. The third repair project, East Flightline Area, had not been completed prior to the capacity study; therefore, the RDII value for the T1 area may now be lower than shown. Sub areas T1 and TS2 also contain older pipe and manholes that have not been rehabilitated. The collection system experiences frequent grease build up in several of the collection mains. Little Rock AFB currently maintains an annual line inspection and cleaning program to remove the grease build up and prevent stoppages. The Base also installs enzyme socks in manholes along problem sections to assist in reducing grease build up. Current system operation has resulted in occasional discharge permit exceedances, especially for total suspended solids (TSS). Almost all TSS exceedances historically, have been associated with contractor break-ins (unexpectedly breaking the line during new construction) and failed piping resulting in solids entering the line. Little Rock AFB currently has a dig-permit process to reduce the number of break-ins. Housing units at Little Rock AFB have been privatized. The Housing Privatization Contractor is responsible for all service lines from the houses up to the main lines. Additional installation information may be located at: http://www.littlrock.af.mil/