BROWN WATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTRATE AND LAGOON DECANT DISCHARGE UPGRADES

Location:	North Carolina
Posted:	May 11, 2026
Due:	Jun 12, 2026
Agency:	City of Durham
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	68 - Chemicals and Chemical Products
Solicitation No:	26-1062
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES

FOR

BROWN WATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTRATE AND LAGOON DECANT

DISCHARGE UPGRADES

DEPARTMENT OF WATER MANAGEMENT

NORTH CAROLINA

MAY 2026

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Professional Engineering Services

For

BROWN WATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTRATE AND LAGOON DECANT DISCHARGE UPGRADES

May 2026

I. INTRODUCTION

Through this Request for Qualifications (RFQ), the City of Durham, Department of Water Management

(Department) is soliciting Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) from candidates to provide professional

engineering services for Brown Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Filtrate and Lagoon Decant Discharge

Upgrades.

The Department is responsible for infrastructure operation, maintenance, evaluation, rehabilitation, and

improvement of the Brown WTP serving the City of Durham. Brown WTP is located at 1615 Infinity Road

Durham, NC 27712. The Brown WTP produces on average 24 million gallons per day (MGD) of water,

with a permitted capacity of 42 MGD. The City anticipates future expansions of Brown WTP to an

ultimate capacity of 66 MGD. To maintain standard operation and solids handling, the WTP has three

streams of wastewater that are discharged to the City’s wastewater collection system; lagoon decant,

filtrate from the belt filter press system, and sanitary sewer from the administration building.

The lagoons receive inflow from the backwash equalization tank overflow and from surface runoff

across the north side of the WTP; with Lagoon 2 receiving the vast majority of this flow. When the water

level in lagoon 2 needs to be lowered, decant water is pumped out using a single pump decant system.

The decant pump is a Sulzer XFP100 submersible chopper pump. The pump discharges into a six-inch

HDPE force main that conveys the wastewater south, across the WTP facility, and connects to a manifold

with the filtrate pump force main, just west of the filtrate pump station.

The filtrate and sanitary sewer flow by gravity to the filtrate pump station situated on the west side of

the WTP. The filtrate pump station is composed of a Smith and Loveless, Inc. packaged pump station

composed of a dual pump system (one duty, one standby) rated at 420 GPM at 90 FT TDH. The pump

station discharges to a 6-inch force main that travels south away from the WTP and continues along

Chutney Drive and Meadston Drive before discharging into the City sewer system. An approximate

diagram illustrating the system is shown below in Appendix A.

Several hydraulic limitations exist with this arrangement. At the WTP, the gravity sewer from the filtrate

building to the pump station encounters a hydraulic bottleneck with surcharging and near overflowing

of a manhole upstream of the pump station. Off the WTP facility, the force main discharges at a

manhole on Meadston Drive that empties into an 8-inch PVC gravity sewer. This sewer line continues

across Goodwin Road and back down Meadston Drive. Numerous reports of overflows involving this

sewer have been received, and maintenance work orders have indicated observations of foaming and

mud in the sewers, as well as instances of overflows while the force main system is discharging. The City

desires to make improvements to the overall discharge system necessary to avoid future instances of

sewer overflows as filtrate production continues to increase in the future.

Scope of Work

The contract with the selected consultant will consist of Preliminary Engineering services to assess the

current WTP conveyance system, discharge system, identify and evaluate potential alternatives for

improved piping and discharge options, and development of construction cost estimates for the items

outlined below. These tasks will be the basis for applying the City’s Equal Business Opportunity Program

(EBOP) policies and Underutilized Business Enterprise (UBE) goals.

The following information will be provided to the selected consultant:

 Available record drawings, documentation, and photographs of the Filtrate gravity conveyance system

and Pump Station, Filtrate effluent system, and Lagoon decant pump system,

 operational data, pump curves, and operator observations,

 GIS data displaying the existing connections to the wastewater collection system and components of

the wastewater collection system adjacent the Brown WTP.

Assessment of the existing discharge systems includes reviewing historical, operational data, and field

data collection to refine an estimate of the average and peak discharge from the lagoon decant pumps

and the filtrate pump station, including the sanitary sewer discharge from the administration building.

This discharge estimate should include any flow or volume characteristics necessary to size the new

discharge system with consideration of potential increases to flow with increased dewatering

operations. The assessment may also include reviewing record drawings of the collection system

installed adjacent to the WTP and the history of overflows and maintenance work orders, to avoid

overflows with the proposed discharge location.

The evaluation of the existing system will contribute to alternatives that improve the system through

rerouting existing piping onsite for improved conveyance and new discharge effluents at one or more

locations. Acceptable alternatives would mitigate risk of gravity sewer overflows on and off the WTP

facility. An ideal solution would be a single new discharge location where the wastewater can be

conveyed by gravity but may include multiple discharge locations with pumped force main options.

These alternatives should be compiled, reviewed, and scored to provide a recommended alternative

that can be implemented in a follow-on project.

Recommended Deliverables

Deliverables for this project should include a technical memorandum documenting the evaluation

results, describing the alternatives evaluated, and recommended improvements. Provide a list of

required permits, easements, and/or approvals required for the alternatives evaluated, and provide a

construction cost estimate. The selected consultant would present the findings of the technical

memorandum in one or more workshops with City staff.

Future contract amendments may consist of the following tasks:

 Detailed design and permitting of selected alternatives

 Bidding assistance services of selected alternatives

 Construction related services of selected alternatives

EBOP policies and UBE goals now also apply to contract amendments. Goals will need to be achieved for

the original contract AND for each subsequent amendment. Goals are not additive and must individually

be met with each new contract or amendment.

II. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS SUBMITTAL PROCEDURES

A. Contact Person for Questions

All questions related to this RFQ are to be submitted in writing to the following contact person by

June 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM.

Daniel J. Hamlin, PE

Engineering Manager

Department of Water Management

1600 Mist Lake Drive

Durham, North Carolina 27704

P: 919-560-4381 ext. 35299

daniel.hamlin@durhamnc.gov

B. RFQ Schedule

The following timeline contains the anticipated dates of major milestones related to this RFQ:

Pre-Submittal Conference (in-person)

Pre-Submittal Site Walk (in-person)

SOQ Due Date

SOQ Evaluation

May 18, 2026, 1:00 PM

immediately following pre-submittal conference

June 12, 2026, 4:00 PM

June, 2026

If, based on the SOQs submitted, the Department decides to conduct presentations then the short

listed candidates will be notified.

C. Pre-Submittal Conference

Candidates that are interested in submitting an SOQ are strongly encouraged to attend an optional

pre-submittal conference on May 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Brown WTP (1615 Infinity Road

Durham, NC 27712). Attendees should meet in the main conference room in the operations

building.

Attendees should be familiar with this RFQ. The meeting will include an overview of the project,

review of RFQ submittal, and EBOP/UBE requirements.

An optional site walk will be conducted immediately after the pre-submittal conference to review

the site and relevant components of the system to be evaluated and improved through this project.

D. Deadline for Submittals

SOQs delivered no later than 4:00 PM on June 12, 2026 will be considered.

Send the required PDF to daniel.hamlin@durhamnc.gov. The email shall be received prior to the

deadline. Confirmation of receipt will be given. Attachments or links to file transfer sites will be

allowed.

E. Number of Submittals and Cover Letter

Candidates shall submit one digital copy of the signed proposal in PDF format.

The SOQ should contain a maximum one-page cover letter, signed by a principal of the proposing

firm, indicating their title and that they have authority to submit the proposed qualifications. The

cover letter should contain the following statements:

The undersigned has the authority to submit this Statement of Qualifications on behalf of

_____________________ in response to the Request for Qualifications, dated <Month> 202<2>

of the City of Durham, and, if applicable, addenda numbers _____. This Statement of

Qualifications is not an offer, and the candidate retains the right to refuse to enter into a

contract with the City for this project.

The candidate is not submitting any trade secrets to the City in connection with this proposal or

the contract. If the contract is awarded to the consultant, the consultant will not submit any

trade secrets to the City in connection with this proposal or the contract. The consultant

acknowledges that the City will rely on the preceding sentence.

F. Prohibited Contact

Candidates are prohibited from contacting any City staff regarding this proposal other than the

contact person listed above or as otherwise authorized by this RFQ. All questions or requests for

clarification of the project scope shall be submitted in writing to the contact person listed above. All

questions regarding EBOP matters shall be submitted to the Finance Department directly, with the

contact person copied, and at the address and contact provided in the EBOP documentation.

G. Updates and Revisions to RFQ

Updates to this RFQ (addendums or addenda) will be sent via the email that originally requested the

RFQ.

III. STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS FORMAT

The submitted proposal shall not exceed twenty pages in length (11-point Arial font minimum –

strictly enforced, printed one side only, or, ten pages printed on both sides), excluding cover, cover

letter, UBE/Diversity forms, title sheets, dividers, etc. All pages in the proposal must be 8-1/2" x 11”

with the exception of one page that can be no larger than 11” x 17” for maps/plans only printed

single sided.

The proposal shall be provided in the format listed below.

A. PROJECT APPROACH

Describe project approach, including detailed means and methods that will be used to perform the

project scope of work detailed in Section I, and make recommendations for the completion of this

project.

B. TEAM QUALIFICATIONS

List the qualifications of the individuals who will have responsibility for this project, including

subconsultants. The Project Manager, key team members, supporting team members and

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Bid Number:	26-1062
Bid Title:	BROWN WATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTRATE AND LAGOON DECANT DISCHARGE UPGRADES
Category:	Requests for Proposals/Qualifications and Services
Status:	Open

BROWN WATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTRATE AND LAGOON DECANT DISCHARGE UPGRADES

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