REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
March 31, 2016
FROM: THOMAS C. ESQUEDA, Director
Department of Public Utilities
BY: ROSA LAU-STAGGS, Wastewater Manager-Environmental Services
Department of Public Utilities - Wastewater Management Division
SUBJECT
Title
Reject all bids received for the purchasing of a NexION 350D Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory (Bid File No. 3424) (Council District 3)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends reject all bids received for the purchasing of a NexION 350D Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends reject all bids received for the purchasing of a NexION 350D Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory. The lowest bid was 28% below the Budget Allocation, but did not meet bid specifications.
BACKGROUND
The Wastewater Management Division (WMD) requested replacement of one PerkinElmer Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrophotometer (ICP-MS) for FY16 for the WMD Laboratory Services (Laboratory). The WMD Laboratory is a state certified laboratory (ELAP) that performs testing of environmental samples to meet monitoring and reporting requirements of the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF) and the North Fresno Wastewater Treatment Facility (NFWTF). In addition, the Laboratory provides services to other DPU divisions, such as Water and Solid Waste. The Laboratory utilizes multiple instruments to analyze constituents found in water, groundwater, wastewater, sludge, and biosolids to meet regulatory reporting requirements and for process control.
The ICP-MS is the instrument of choice to determine low levels of heavy metals in environmental samples, specifically to the parts per billion (PPB) or parts per trillion (PPT) levels. Environmental regulations, specifically those related to water and wastewater require analytical instruments and procedures able to detect heavy metals at very low levels which can be done with the ICP-MS. The existing ICP-MS is over 10 years old. It has had practically all its parts replaced, including the mass-flow controller for the nebulizer gas, and it is currently unable to adjust the argon gas flow to the nebulizer, which is critical for reliable results.
The City invited bidders for the purchase of a NexION 350D ICP-MS. The bid specifications requested that the instrument should use ammonia and a true quadrupole filtering device for maximum removal of interference. Two bidders presented their products with the lower bidder presenting an instrument that did not meet bid specifications. However, during this process, it came to staff’s attention that when using collision mode technology, there are instruments in the market that are able to achieve very low detection limits with the ability to minimize or eliminate interference without using 100% ammonia as a reactive gas. Therefore, WMD is rejecting all bids and will revise the specifications to ensure that the purchase of the replacement ICP-MS meets the minimum requirements of an instrument that can use collision mode technology to achieve maximum removal of interference without losing target analyte sensitivity and at a fair market value.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 15378, the rejection of all bids does not qualify as a “project,” for the purpose of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because the rejection of all bids does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The rejection of all bids will result in no financial impact to the Sewer Enterprise Fund. This replacement instrument was budgeted and approved to be purchased on the FY16 WMD budget.
Attachments:
Attachment 1: Evaluation of Bid Proposals for NexION 350D ICP-MS - Bid File No. 3424
Attachment 2: Technical Specifications - NexION 350D ICP-MS or Equivalent
Attachment 3: Agilent Technologies, Inc. Bid Proposal
Attachment 4: PerkinElmer Health Sciences, Inc. Bid Proposal