LEAK DETECTION SURVEY FOR WATER DEPARTMENT

The Town of Manchester Water Department is soliciting proposals from qualified contractors for a comprehensive leak detection survey of the water distribution system, locating leaks in mains, services, and appurtenances to minimize non-revenue water, guide targeted repairs, and enhance overall system reliability.

Background

The Town of Manchester, located in Hartford County, is a vibrant suburban community serving approximately 60,000 residents (plus portions of abutting towns like Glastonbury). The Manchester Water and Sewer Department (MWSD) is a municipally owned utility providing high-quality drinking water from a mix of seven reservoir impoundments and ten groundwater wells, with treatment at the Globe Hollow Water Treatment Plant.

The water distribution system includes approximately 280 miles of water mains, ten storage tanks, five booster pumping stations, ~16,500 domestic service lines, and ~1,047 fire/irrigation services and Approx 2,500 Fire Hydrants. Average daily delivery is ~5 million gallons. Like many Connecticut systems, infrastructure dates back decades, with cast iron sections more prone to corrosion, breaks, and leaks — contributing to non-revenue water loss. The Department is committed to infrastructure improvements, water conservation, AWWA loss control guidelines, and EPA standards (including ongoing lead/galvanized service line inventory and replacement efforts). A professional leak detection survey will help identify and prioritize hidden leaks to reduce losses, support repairs, and improve system efficiency.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 25/26-43
• Department: Water and Sewer
• Department Head: Shannon Miles (Chief Administrative Officer)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-20T20:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Experience and Qualifications (20 pts) —

  Demonstrated relevant experience with similar municipal leak detection surveys in Connecticut or comparable systems, including references, past project performance, staff expertise, and equipment suitability for mixed pipe materials (ductile iron, cast iron).

• Technical Approach and Methodology (20 pts) —

  Quality and innovation of proposed methods, understanding of the Town's system (e.g., addressing aging infrastructure, urban/suburban challenges), detailed work plan, risk mitigation, and value-added elements (e.g., optional technologies like satellite pre-scan).

• Project Schedule and Staffing (10 pts) —

  Realistic timeline, milestones, resource allocation, and ability to complete the survey efficiently with minimal disruption. The ability to complete the project in 90 days or less.

• Pricing and Overall Value (50 pts) —

  Reasonableness of costs (e.g., per mile, lump sum, phased rates), cost-effectiveness relative to proposed benefits (e.g., potential water savings), and overall value to the Town (not solely lowest price).

Submission Requirements

• Proposal Requirements (required) —

  Please confirm that you have read and agreed with the entire RFP and related attachments (if any) including

  1. General Conditions, if applicable
  2. Special Provisions and Specifications, if applicable
• Firm Description (required) —

  Provide a description and brief history of the firm. Name of firm, location of principal and branch offices; length of time in business; and firm ownership structure.

• Related Experience (required) —

  Please provide a list of all projects currently in progress and completed over the last five years. The description should at a minimum provide the project name, location, year of completion, type of contract, renovation cost, size, owner name and reference with telephone number.

• Organization and Staffing (required) —

  Provide an organization chart for staff proposed for this project which clearly identifies your proposed management staff for the project (Project Executive, Project Manager, Project Superintendent, etc.). Also include detailed resumes for each person identified.

• Typical Project Approach (required) —

  Provide description of services your firm will utilize during each phase of the project to ensure the project is completed on schedule and within budget.

• Litigation/Arbitration (required) —

  List information on (a) any involvement in litigation or arbitration with municipal clients; and (b) all clients that have terminated your services prior to completion of any project within the past ten (10) years. Explain circumstances that led to it and describe the resolution.

• Insurance (required) —

  Contractor/ Vendor shall agree to maintain in force at all times during the contract the following minimum coverages and shall name the Town of Manchester as Additional Insured on a primary and non-contributory basis to all policies except Workers Compensation.

• Proposal Documents (required) —

  Please Upload your COMPLETE Proposal here, which includes the following:

  1. Bid Summary
  2. Statement of Experience and Qualifications
  3. Non-Collusion Declaration
• Proposal (without Cost Proposal) (required) —

  Please Upload your COMPLETE Proposal here. Upload fee proposal separately in the next step.

• Separate Cost Proposal (required) —

  Confirm that your fee proposal is not attached in your Proposal and is attached separately here.

• Bid Bond (required) —

  Each bid shall be accompanied by a certified cashier’s check, or bid bond, in the amount of not less than 5%of the total bid price, payable toTown of Manchester, as a guarantee that the bidder, if its bid is accepted, will promptly execute the Agreement. The bidder shall guarantee the total bid price for a period of 60 days from the date of the bid opening.

  Please scan and upload a copy of your bid bond/cashier's check. Bidder must also MAIL bid guarantee with a postmarked date no later thanThursday, April 23, 2026 addressed to:

  Town of Manchester
  Cora Narracci
  125 Spring St
  Manchester,CT06040

  Please have the Bidder Name, Contract Title ("LEAK DETECTION SURVEY FOR WATER DEPARTMENT"), and Contract Number ("25/26-43") listed clearly on the outside of the envelope.

• Contract Execution, Payment Bond, Performance Bond, and Certificate(s) of Insurance (required) —

  The contract shall be executed by the successful bidder and shall be returned, together with the Payment Bond, Performance Bond and Certificate(s) of Insurance to Town of Manchester so that it is received within 14 working daysafter the bidder has received the contract for execution. Failure to do so shall be just cause for forfeiture of the proposal guaranty.

• Addenda (required) —

  This bid and any addenda will be issued on the Town of Manchester website bidding portal. It shall be the responsibility of the bidder to download this information. THE TOWN OF MANCHESTER WILL NOT MAIL A SEPARATE HARD COPY OF ADDENDUM TO BIDDERS. Failure of any bidder to receive any such addendum or interpretation shall not relieve such bidder from any obligation under his bid as submitted. All addenda so issued shall become part of the Contract Documents.

• Have you completed and uploaded the Living Wage Certification? If the form is in the attachments section, then you must complete it and submit it with your bid. (required)
• IRS Form W-9 Request for Taxpayer Indentification Number and Certification. Please provide a current Form W-9. You may also use the fillable Form W-9 attached here. (required) —

  Please download the document below, complete, sign and upload.

  In order to collect your official tax identity, a current Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, is required before engaging in any business with the Town of Manchester. 

  Please ensure that you have completed all necessary fields on the form, specifically Part I, Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and Part II, Certification.

  Payments to the vendor may be delayed if Form W-9 is not received.

  Please download Form W-9 from the IRS website or use the fillable form below.

  Complete, sign and include it with your submission.

  Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw9.pdf

  Form W-9  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

  Complete, sign and upload.

• Please provide the full name of the person who is authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the company in the event that your company is the successful respondent.* (required)
• Please provide the email address of the person who is authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the company in the event that your company is the successful respondent. (required)
• IT SECURITY
• Vendor Information (required) —

  Please provide your Company Name

  Your Company Address

  Main Contact Name and Title

  Telephone Number

  Email Address

• Vendor Security Agreement (required) —

  Vendors who provide software and/or software support to the Town of Manchester must agree to the following requirements.

   

  Access to any Town of Manchester or related network is for the purposes of supporting this agreement. Any unauthorized use of that access will prompt immediate revocation of access rights and necessitate the use of other means for fulfillment of services in this agreement.

   

  Unauthorized access to Town of Manchester systems or data is prohibited.

   

  Data accessible due to access given for purposes of fulfillment of this agreement shall not be removed from devices controlled by the Town of Manchester. This includes data stored on premises in Town of Manchester data centers as well as data stored in cloud instances controlled by the Town of Manchester.

   

  Vendor will hold confidential information in strict confidence and will access information only for the explicit business purposes outlined this Agreement.

   

  Disclosure of account information, including usernames, passwords, email addresses, domain names, or mechanisms used for authentication is prohibited.

   

  Directly or indirectly causing the inclusion of any false, inaccurate, or misleading entries into any records or reports is prohibited.

   

  Vendor will return or securely destroy all confidential information upon expiration or termination of this Agreement.

   

  Vendor will notify the Town of Manchester immediately upon the termination of any individual involved in providing Services so that account access, passwords, remote diagnostic access, or other forms of access can be revoked.

   

  At the request of the Town of Manchester, Vendor agrees to provide the Town of Manchester with a written summary of the procedures Vendor uses to safeguard and maintain the confidentiality of Town of Manchester Records.

   

  Vendor will notify the primary contact on this agreement directly within one (1) business day upon the discovery of a security incident impacting, or potentially impacting, the data or services provided to the Town of Manchester by Vendor.

   

  Vendor will provide contact information for a primary information security contact within their organization that the Town of Manchester may contact regarding security concerns or issue

   

  Vendor must comply with information security compliance regulations that would apply to a) the types of data that the Town of Manchester would reasonably store in the systems provided in this Agreement and b) the types of services they would be responsible for under this Agreement

   

   

• Where do your servers reside geographically? (required)
• What is your protocol for suspected security incidents? (required)
• What is your disaster recovery plan? (required)
• Describe any security measures you have in place to protect our data. (required)
• Are customer systems isolated from internal systems? (required)
• What type of encryption do you use for customer data in transit? (required)
• What type of encryption do you use for customer data at rest? (required)
• What authentication methods do you support? (required)
• What compliance requirements do you support? (required)
• Project Description (required) —

  Please provide a brief description of the project in one or two paragraphs.

• Customer Department (required) —

  Enter the name of your department.

• Minimum Requirements Vendor must meet (required) —

  Please provide the minimum requirements vendor must meet for this project.

  Example:

  Legal status in the State of Connecticut

  2. Out of State corporations, sole proprietorships and partnerships MUST have a fully staffed operation office located in the State of Connecticut and shall include their current “Certificate of Legal Existence in the State of Connecticut”, as well as a “Certificate of Good Standing” from their home state.

  4. Minimum of 3 years experience

  etc.

   

• Itemized list of Services required. (required) —

  Is it applicable to provide a brief itemized list of Services Required?

• List of Services Required (required) —

  Please itemize a list of services required:

   

  Example:

  1. Monitor and report status of budget, schedule and logs. Report to the Town at least monthly. Attend site and Project meetings, and regular and special meetings of the Building Committee, as requested.

   

  2. Maintain full-time supervision on site.

   

  3. Coordinate all activities on site.

   

  4. Review shop drawings and submittals prior to architectural review.

   

  5. Initiate all contracts, change orders and purchase orders.

   

  6. Monitor all job-site safety and report deficiencies to trade contractors and Building Committee.

   

  7. Coordinate all closeouts and commissioning activities.

   

  8. Comply with applicable CHRO requirements.

   

  9. Monitor and comply with applicable prevailing wage requirements.

• Does This Project require Living Wage Ordinance? (required) —

  Will the total contract value be $25,000 or more in one fiscal year?

• Is this project for Supplies or Construction?
• Is this a Technology Solicitation (required)
• Bid Bond (required) —

  Will this solicitation require a bid bond?

• Separate Fee Proposal Upload (required)
• Evaluation Committee? (required) —

  Will there be an evaluation committee to review the proposals and score them based on weights and multiple criteria?

• Does this project require Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO)? (required) —

  Required for State Funded Projects over $50,000

• Will this project be using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding? (required) —

  Required for recipients of ARPA funds

Questions & Answers