Operator Services for the Advance Water Purification Program

The City of Tucson, Tucson Water Department has rights to Class A+ secondary treated effluent from  Pima County’s existing water reclamation facilities and intends to implement further advanced treatment for potable distribution, in compliance with Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Chapter 9, Article 8. The new Advanced Water Purification Facility will be capable of producing 2.5 million gallons per day (MGD). The purpose of the Project is to utilize a portion of the City’s local water resources, including its effluent entitlement, to diversify the City’s water resource portfolio. By purifying and reusing up to 2.5 MGD annually, the Project aims to improve water quality, water supply reliability, address distribution system capacity issues due to PFAS-related well shutdowns, and provide long-term conservation benefits for both the local community and the Colorado River system. Currently, the City is in negotiations with a design-build firm (Design-Builder) to design and construct the AWPF. The Operator, pursuant to its O&M Agreement with the City, will be required to coordinate with and provide input to the City and the Design-Builder in connection with the design and construction of the AWPF. However, the Operator’s primary responsibility will be the operations and maintenance of the AWPF, and the Design-Builder (not the Operator) will be responsible for its design and construction.

Background

In October 2023, City’s Mayor and Council adopted the One Water 2100 Plan (Plan). The Plan is Tucson’s comprehensive, long-range plan that aims to protect the reliability and quality of Tucson’s water supply through 2100. It recognizes the interconnectedness of our surface water, groundwater, recycled water, and stormwater supplies and plans for a future where the region’s water supply portfolio is increasingly diversified, and water demands are well managed. One of the strategies identified by stakeholders was to begin purifying recycled water to drinking water standards. The City has an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation to build an AWPF in return for foregoing some of its Colorado River allocation that will help Tucson Water reduce reliance on surface and groundwater and maximize the use of local water resources. 

The City expects that the Operator will provide operations-related input into design of the AWPF, participate in training, witness the commissioning and performance testing and execute efficient operations of the AWPF over the long-term. The following are the high-level features and overall objectives of the Project:

• The AWPF is expected to produce 2.5 MGD of potable water with direct conveyance to the potable distribution system.
• The AWPF will receive effluent from one of Pima County’s existing water reclamation facilities (as a primary source) and the City’s reclaimed system (as a secondary source), as influent to the AWPF with product water from the AWPF in direct conveyance to the potable distribution system. The City of Tucson’s current preference is to locate that AWP Facility at Pima County’s Agua Nueva Water Reclamation Facility. A site assessment is currently in progress.
• Final completion of the AWPF by the Design-Builder is expected by June 1, 2031, with the operating term commencing on the earlier achievement of substantial completion by the Design-Builder.
• Integration of the Operator in a collaborative method to enhance the design of the AWPF from an operations perspective.
• Establish long-term operations and maintenance of the AWPF utilizing a qualified Operator to provide reliable, efficient facility performance and sustained compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulatory requirements throughout the life of the facility.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 260227
• Department: Water Department
• Department Head: John Kmiec (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-28T00:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-05-30T00:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-05-19T15:00:00.000Z — See the Teams Link on the Notice page

Evaluation Criteria

• Relevant Project Experience (40 pts) —
  1. Describe the performance history and experience of the Project Team on similar projects, including a description of past working relationships.
  2. Provide a summary table to cross-reference the Project Team (Operator, and Key Personnel) with participation in the reference projects. Submit as Project References with Appendix C and limited to 1 page per reference, the Offeror shall submit at least five (5) but not more than eight (8) reference project descriptions to demonstrate relevant experience with projects of similar scope and scale for municipal clients in the United States, with long-term operations and/or operation-related involvement in the design phase for projects within the past 8 years, with a preference for collaboratively delivered projects (greater emphasis will be placed on Advanced Water Purification, Pilot Studies, and projects delivered in the Progressive Design Build or Construction Manager at Risk methods).Each project reference shall contain at least the following information:
     1. Project name and location
     2. Name of owner
     3. Owner reference and contact information
     4. Role of Offeror
     5. Completion dates
     6. Description of the project showing relevance to this Project including details on operations scope in design, performance testing, and commissioning.
     7. Names of Key Personnel that will participate in the project and are included in this SOQ, along with a clear description of the roles and responsibilities of each.
  3. Describe the history and experience of the Operator on projects involving input during the design phase, testing and commissioning/start-up, training of operations staff, development of operations and maintenance plans, and long-term operations
• Project Team Structure and Key Personnel (40 pts) —

  Describe the structure and management of the Project Team. Note that any change in the Key Personnel included in the RFP requires Owner approval of such changes.

   

  The Operator profile must include the following information:

  1. 1. Unique Qualifications of the Team.
        1.  Describe how the Project Team’s qualifications and experience are of unique benefit to the Project in light of the Offeror’s Project approach described in Project Understanding.
     2. Project Team Structure.
        1. Describe the Operator’s project team structure for Phase 1 services.
        2. Include organizational chart(s) showing reporting relationships and responsibilities within the Operator’s team.
     3. Key Personnel. Include organizational chart(s) identifying all Key Personnel and showing reporting relationships of all Key Personnel during Operator Phases 1 and 2. Describe Key Personnel individual qualifications and experience and how it aligns with their proposed role. Additional Key Personnel information required includes:
        1. Offerors may identify Key Personnel they deem to be critical to Project success but must include, at a minimum, the Operations Technical Lead, and a Project Manager.
        2. Provide resumes for all Key Personnel with Appendix C. Resumes must be limited to two pages per individual and include:
        3. Academic and professional qualifications
        4. Professional registration(s) (as applicable)
        5. Tenure with organization and industry
        6. Experience as it relates to the Project, the individual’s specified role on the Project, and the approximate percentage of time they will spend on the project per phase including other commitments they have in parallel.
     4. Operations Technical Lead. The City’s expectation is that the Operator will nominate an Operations Technical Lead that will be involved in Phases 1, 2 and 3 for continuity. The City is expecting that involvement by the Operations Technical Lead throughout the project will ensure that Operations and Maintenance design input is appropriately integrated into the AWPF design, and so that the City has a single point of contact for Operations and Maintenance that is knowledgeable about the project and is able to smoothly transition the AWPF to long-term operation. If extraordinary circumstances require a change, it must be submitted in writing to the City contact, and the City, at its sole discretion, will determine whether to authorize a change, recognizing that certain circumstances (such as termination of employment) may occur that are beyond the Operator’s control.The Offeror shall nominate an Operations Technical Lead.
        1. Include details on unique qualifications, education, industry certifications, experience, and number of years with the firm. Identify similar Operations projects managed, specifically any Design-Build projects where technical Operations input was provided during design. The City is expecting the same Operations Technical Lead to remain on the project throughout Operator Phases 1, 2 and at least the beginning of long-term operation in Phase 3, for continuity.
     5. Project Manager. The City’s expectation is that the Operator will nominate a Project Manager to manage the delivery and administrative functions of the Operator’s involvement in the project during Operator Phases 1 and 2. The Project Manager’s will be responsible for ensuring the Operator’s involvement and input in the project is occurring in lockstep with the Design-Builder's schedule.The Offeror shall nominate a Project Manager.
        1. Describe how the Project Manager will ensure the performance of the Operator’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 services in lockstep with the Design-Builder’s schedule.
     6. Regulatory Experience.
        1. Describe Project team’s experience with local, state, and federal regulations as applicable to the scope of work.
     7. Operations Experience.
        1. Include details on the Operator’s experience managing, operating, and maintaining water or wastewater and advanced water or wastewater treatment facilities.
     8. Operator Certifications. At a minimum, the Operator shall demonstrate ability to provide Operations staff certified as either:
        1. Grade 3 or Grade 4 drinking water treatment certification; or:
        2. Grade 3 or Grade 4 wastewater treatment certification.
        3. The Operator will be expected to have a full-time operator in direct responsible charge for operation of the AWPF. Operators will be required to obtain Advanced Water Purification Operator Certification for all of its Operations staff, as per the requirements of the approved ADEQ AWP Rule in effect.
• Project Understanding (10 pts) —

  Provide a conceptual description of the Operator’s understanding of the project for Operator Phase 1, 2, and 3 services. The Offeror should focus on describing the specific approach and related benefits to the project for Phase 1 services. Specifically address the following:

  1. 1. Provide an understanding of the project, including goals, objectives, and risks/challenges for the operator
     2. Provide the project team’s high-level approach to perform the requested Phase 1 services and how they might achieve the projects goals and objectives.
     3. Describe high level project team tools, resources, and quality assurances applicable to proposed work.
     4. Describe at a high level how the team proposes to collaborate with the Owner and the Design-Builder for Operator Phase 1 services.
• Operator Profile and Key Firms (10 pts) —

  A detailed and complete description of the Operator must be provided in Part 1 of proposal. The Operator must provide a list of services that are provided in-house and list of services the Operator does not intend to self-perform.

   

  The Operator profile must include the following information:

  1. General Information. Provide general information about the Operator, such as lines of business and service offerings, locations of home and other offices, number of employees (professional and nonprofessional), years in business, and evidence of required licenses. Provide licenses in Appendix B (Supporting Financial and Company Documentation) of the SOQ.
  2. Operator Legal Structure. Identify whether the Operator is organized as a corporation, limited liability company (LLC), general partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, or other form of legal entity. For joint ventures, identify how the individual members of the joint venture are organized and provide relevant joint venture or similar agreements that detail how the joint venture is formed and structured. Describe how the Operator has used this structure, or a similar structure, to deliver similar projects and the associated benefits and challenges with this structure. As applicable, identify the owners of the Operator (e.g., shareholders, members, partners, and the like) who hold an interest of 10% or more in Appendix B (Supporting Financial and Company Documentation).
  3. Project Office Location. Identify where the Operator intends to maintain its Project office(s) for each Phase of the Services.
  4. Communications. Describe the points of contact, the communication process, and how the management team(s) will interact with City staff. Identify the main points of contact in the Project Team who will coordinate with the City and Design-Builder.
  5. Safety. Provide a summary description of the Operator’s corporate safety program and include safety statistics or records indicating categories of accidents and their incidence or frequency rates for the past three years. The following safety records must be provided for the Operator for the current and past three years:
  6. The experience modification rate (EMR) calculated by the National Council on Compensation Insurance or similar rating bureau. (The EMR is also referred to as the experience modification rating, experience modification factor, experience modifier or X-mod.) Where this value is greater than the industry average of 1.0, the Offeror may provide mitigating information to explain the reasons for the EMR rating in Appendix B (Supporting Financial and Company Documentation).
  7. The days-away-from-work injury incidence rate. A day-away-from-work injury is an injury that prevents an employee from returning to their next regularly scheduled shift. The incidence rate is calculated by multiplying the number of days-away-from-work injuries for the particular year by 200,000 and then dividing the product by the person-hours worked for that year.
  8. Quality Management. Describe the Operator’s quality management plan.

  Provide the following additional information pertaining to factors or events that have the potential to adversely impact the Operator’s ability to perform its contractual commitments. If any of the questions below are answered in a manner that indicates that any of these unfavorable factors or events are present, it is the Offeror’s responsibility to (1) describe in detail the unfavorable factor or event, and (2) provide sufficient information to demonstrate that the unfavorable factor or event will not adversely impact the Offeror’s ability to perform its contractual commitments.

   

  Include the following information in Appendix A (Supporting Financial and Company Documentation):

  1. 1. Financial Condition. Provide financial statements for the Operator for the past three years and quarterly financial statements, certified by the chief financial officer, for the current year. For publicly traded companies, reference to US Securities and Exchange Commission 10-K filings and any recent 10-Q findings are adequate. For entities that are not publicly traded, provide audited financial statements for the same period. If the Operator is a joint venture, LLC, or partnership, such financial statements must be provided for each partner or member.
     2. Performance Bonds. Indicate the terms and dollar amount that the Operator can offer if awarded the Operations Contract for the AWPF. Provide a letter issued by the Operator’s surety company to verify the availability of the bond for the dollar amount offered. The surety must be authorized by law to do business in Arizona and must have an A.M. Best Company Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of ‘A’ or better. The surety company must be listed in the US Department of Treasury’s Circular 570.
     3. Insurance. Provide a letter from the Operator’s insurance company or broker stating its ability to meet the requirement of and acquire and provide the minimum limits for the required insurance provided in the Draft Term Sheet in Attachment D.
     4. Legal Proceedings and Judgments. List and briefly describe any pending or past (within five years) legal proceedings and judgments, or any contingent liability that could adversely affect the financial position or ability to perform contractual commitments to Owner. If no such proceedings or judgments are listed, provide a sworn statement to that effect from the Operator’s general counsel.
     5. Completion of Contracts. Has the Operator failed to complete any contract, or has any contract been terminated due to alleged poor performance or default within the past 10 years? If so, describe the circumstances.
     6. Debarred from Bidding. Has the Operator been debarred  or is it currently under consideration for debarment, on public contracts by the federal government or by any state? If so, describe the circumstances. Additionally, Tucson Water may separately verify debarment during evaluations of the SOQ.
• Cost Proposal (60 pts) —

  PROJECT SCOPE AND EVALUATION CRITERIA TO BE PROVIDED TO THE SHORTLISTED FIRMS.

   

• Interviews/Presentations (40 pts) —

  INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS AND SPECIFICS WILL BE INCLUDED IN AN

  INVITATION TO INTERVIEW LETTER.

   

Submission Requirements

• Discounts —

  As stated in the Instructions to Offerors. Discounts, the price(s) herein can be discounted by _______%, if payment is made within ______ days. These payment terms shall apply to all purchases and to all payment methods.

• Cooperative Purchasing Program —

  Cooperative Purchasing allows other public agencies to piggyback on the City of Tucson’s contracts. Will your firm provide the City of Tucson, as the lead agency on this regional contract, a rebate in the form of a percentage of sales based upon the other agencies sales?

• If yes, please state the percentage rebate you will provide.
• Does your firm have a City of Tucson Business License?
• Please upload a copy of your business license.
• Forms to be Filled Out —

  Please ensure that all required information is included with your response.

  1. Response to Evaluation Criteria
  2. Offer and Acceptance Form
• Response to Evaluation Criteria- Proposal (Step 1) (required) —

  Please upload your response to the Evaluation Criteria.

• Offer and Acceptance Form (required) —

  Please upload your signed Offer and Acceptance form.

• Does your response to this solicitation include a request to keep any portion confidential and withhold it from the public record? (required) —

  Please note: The City of Tucson is a public agency subject to public records laws. Therefore, all requests to withhold information from the public record must be accompanied by justification. Pricing will not be held confidential.

• Confidential Information (required) —

  If you answered yes, then you must use this field to identify the sections of your submittal that you are requesting be withheld from public record. 

  If sections are not identified as confidential in this field, your request to hold information confidential may not be accepted.

  Please note: The City of Tucson is a public agency subject to public records laws. Therefore, all requests to withhold information from the public record must be accompanied by justification. Pricing will not be held confidential.

• Is your firm submitting any exceptions for the City's consideration?  (required) —

  In accordance with Instructions to Offerors - Exceptions to Contract Provisions, any exceptions that an offeror wishes to submit for the City's consideration must be indicated here in order to be considered.

• Define the exceptions you are requesting. (required)
• Living Wage (required) —

  Will Living Wage Requirements be a part of the resulting contract?

• Will the resultant contract have Federal Funding? (required)
• Special Terms and Conditions (required) —

  Please select the required language that should be included under Special Terms and Conditions for this project. Please select all that apply.

• Insurance Requirements (required) —

  Please select the additional insurance coverages required for this project. Please select all that apply.

• Initial Term of Contract (required) —

  What is the initial term of the contract?

  Please use the following format: one (1)

  Even if you selected auto renewal, you need to add the initial term, i.e. one (1)

• Renewal Options (required) —

  Will renewal options be given with this contract?

  If you selected Auto Renewal, select No.

• Renewal Term (required) —

  What is the renewal term of the contract?

  Please use the following format: four (4)

  If no extension options will be given or you selected automatic renewals, please enter "N/A".

• Pricing (required) —

  Will you build the pricing table in OpenGov Procurement?

• Separate Pricing Document (required) —

  If you will be requesting the pricing to be provided by the vendor outside of the OpenGov system, have you attached the required document to this solicitation?

• Attachments (required) —

  Do you have any attachments?