Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility Liquids Train Expansion Preliminary Engineering Report

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
RFQ # 354-UT26-25
Project Title: Western Wake Regional WRF Liquids Train Expansion
Preliminary Engineering Report
Issue Date: April 2, 2026
Due Date: May 8th at 3:00 PM ET
Issuing Department: Utilities
Direct all inquiries concerning this RFQ to:
Corrie Bondar, P.E.
Assistant Utilities Director
Email: corrie.bondar@carync.gov
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Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Purpose ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 RFQ Timeline ........................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 Pre-Submittal Conference ................................................................................................................. 7
1.5 Questions ................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.6 Submittal Requirements and Contact Information ................................................................ 8
1.7 Rights to Submitted Material ............................................................................................................ 8
1.8 Communications .................................................................................................................................... 9
1.9 Lobbying ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
1.10 Gifts and Favors ..................................................................................................................................... 9
1.11 Proposer Expenses .............................................................................................................................. 9
1.12 Proposer Acceptance .......................................................................................................................... 9
2 QUALIFICATIONS PACKAGE .................................................................................................. 10
2.1 Request for Qualifications Required Document Format ................................................. 10
2.2 Hourly Rates ......................................................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Qualifications Package Documents ........................................................................................... 11
3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION ........................................................................................................ 12
3.1 Evaluation Criteria .............................................................................................................................. 12
3.2 Final Selection ...................................................................................................................................... 12
3.3 Notice to Proposers ........................................................................................................................... 12
4 SCOPE OF SERVICES ................................................................................................................. 13
5 EXECUTION OF PROPOSAL .................................................................................................... 17
APPENDIX I ................................................................................................................................................ 18
v.04.15.24

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose
The Towns of Cary and Apex are seeking one or more qualified firm(s) with which to
contract for the following services:
* Development of a preliminary engineering report for the expansion of the liquids
treatment train at the Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility
(WWRWRF) from 18 MGD to 30 MGD.
A detailed scope of services is provided in Section 4 of this solicitation.
Information related to this solicitation, including any addenda, will be posted to the North
Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) at https://evp.nc.gov/solicitations/.
1.2 Background
The Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility represents the culmination of
more than a decade of regional cooperation and planning among the Western Wake
Partners including Cary, Apex and Morrisville. The water reclamation facility is jointly
owned by Cary and Apex, (66% Cary and 34% Apex) as Cary provides utility services in
Morrisville following their utility merger in 2006. Cary serves as Lead Agency under
existing operations agreements and is responsible for operation and maintenance of the
facilities and for all permits and regulatory compliance.
The WWRWRF site is approximately 207 acres and was designed to minimize both
environmental impacts and potential negative impacts to the surrounding community.
The WWRWRF design process and siting were conducted in a way to honor Cary's
commitments to its neighbors by employing the best available technologies for odor
control and overall nuisance mitigation as well as minimizing environmental impacts
through an intensive environmental review process as part of development of its

Environmental Impact Statement. The facility was designed with an attractive, compact
architectural campus layout providing clean lines of sight throughout the entire facility.
This facility has performed extremely well during the past 11+ years, achieving high
standards for nutrient removal, environmental protection and providing high quality
treated water to the Cape Fear River basin. The facility is an active member of the Middle
Cape Fear Basin Association, which performs the water quality monitoring necessary to
meet NPDES permit requirements. The WWRWRF has been recognized as an award-
winning facility, having received the Partnership for Clean Water Director's Award and
multiple NACWA recognitions, including seven consecutive Platinum Awards and a Silver
Award in 2024. The facility has also been recognized by the Water Environment
Federation (WEF) as a Platinum Partner in its Nutrient Smart program and as an innovator
in nutrient removal.
The trees, streams and foliage on the site are protected within the facility by a 200-ft
undisturbed buffer around the facility perimeter. Cary's values of environmental
protection, exceptional wastewater treatment performance, being a good neighbor, and
providing exceptional quality biosolids for beneficial reuse are important to citizens,
neighbors, and staff. These values are an important feature of Cary's decision-making
process and will be reiterated throughout the scoping and design meetings.
The facility was designed and permitted for flows up to 18-MGD across four treatment
trains and treats both domestic and high strength non-residential wastewater from the
service area. The facility began operating on July 28, 2014, and discharging treated water
to the Cape Fear River on August 11, 2014. The facility provides wastewater treatment
for the Western Wake County and Chatham County service areas of Cary, Apex, and
Morrisville, as well as Wake County's portion of Research Triangle Park (RTP). The
service area population for the WWRWRF is 109,000 and growing.
Wastewater treatment begins on-site with preliminary treatment, which consists of two 6-
mm perforated plate screens and one manual screen. The grit removal system consists
of a vortex grit chamber and secondary grit removal from the influent force mains. The
collected grit is processed through two grit classifiers in which organics are rinsed from
the grit. Secondary treatment is provided through a five-stage process, which is a
modified version of the Virginia Initiative Process for biological removal of nitrogen and
phosphorus. The WWRWRF has four separate Biological Reactor Basins (BRB) that
provide advanced secondary treatment. Clarification immediately follows the secondary
treatment process basins with four large and four small rectangular clarifiers. This is
where treated wastewater effluent is separated from the microorganisms, in the form of
solids, through a settling process. These microorganisms (or biosolids) are either
recirculated back to the BRBs or wasted to the solids handling process. Tertiary treatment
of the effluent is provided through eight disc filters, followed by three channels with two
banks each of ultraviolet lamps for final pathogen disinfection. Finally, the treated
wastewater is aerated in the post aeration basin before being pumped approximately 11
miles via a single pipeline to the Cape Fear River. The treated water discharge flows
over a cascade aeration structure adjacent to the river before being discharged just below
the Buckhorn Dam. A process schematic is shown below.
2

Below is an aerial view of the facility with process flow diagram and direction of flow
indicated. More details on the current process can be found in our virtual overview:
https://view.genial.ly/5f75fc5c6926ac0d03e5aa7f
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A portion of the final effluent is conveyed to the WWRWRF reclaimed water facility for
chlorine disinfection before further use in onsite facility processes and bulk water
applications. All reclaimed water produced onsite is either used for facility processes,
conveyed to a bulk water station, or recycled onsite. There is no dedicated reclaimed
water storage tank or offsite distribution system as part of this facility.
Solids are thickened and dewatered with three combination gravity belt thickeners and
belt filter press machines. The dewatered biosolids are stored in two cake silos prior to
thermal drying, which is accomplished through two Veolia belt dryers. The thermal
biosolids dryer produces dried pellets that are stored in two pellet silos prior to being
hauled offsite by an outside vendor to be applied as an agricultural soil amendment. The
WWRWRF Solids Handling Facility produces Class A, Exceptional Quality biosolids in
compliance with EPA 503 regulations.
4

The WWRWRF was originally designed as a continuous flow facility. As the flows and
loads have increased, it has become increasingly difficult to operate efficiently as a
continuous flow facility. As a result, Cary and Apex have selected a consultant to design
an aerated sludge holding tank between the liquids treatment and solids treatment trains
to provide storage and additional operational flexibility.
The WWRWRF is currently operating as a three-train facility treating ~8 MGD. An
expansion will be required to be online by 2035. Constructing the expansion while the
facility operates as a three-train facility will provide flexibility to transition flows during
construction and ensure that both Cary and Apex maintain adequate capacity in advance
of the requirements of the 80/90 rule.
As summarized in the graph above, wastewater flows to the facility have steadily
increased as a result of growth in Cary and Apex. Jacobs developed an Expansion Master
Plan in 2025 to guide the expansion of the facility to 30 MGD. This effort included detailed
analysis of historical flows and loads, a unit process evaluation, exploration of multiple
expansion technology options, investigation of two accelerated growth scenarios, and
development of a capital improvement plan. The effort culminated in the selection of cost-
effective technologies that align with Cary and Apex's values for environmental protection,
sustainable practices, and high-quality wastewater treatment services.
https://www.carync.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/36562/639005363117870000
Work performed as part of the Expansion Master Plan, Regional Utility Infrastructure
Review Studies, Long Range Water Resources Plan and Big Branch 2 Pump Station
Design shall not be duplicated in this preliminary engineering report, unless explicitly
directed by Cary and Apex, but shall be used by reference. This includes the following
sections of the Expansion Master Plan:
* Flows, loads and projections
* WWRWRF unit process evaluation
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* WWRWRF expansion options
* Accelerated expansion exploration and utilization of buffer treatment capacity
* WWRWRF biosolids treatment & disposal options
* Beaver Creek PS evaluation
The WWRWRF holds NPDES permit NC0088846 which includes effluent limitations and
monitoring requirements, including nitrogen and phosphorus loads, for a facility
expansion to 30 MGD. Therefore, an Authorization to Construct (ATC) and Erosion and
Sediment Control (ESC) permits are all that will be required from the North Carolina
Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) to move to construction on the facility
expansion.
The expansion of the liquids train will be the first step in an overall expansion of the facility.
The timeline below indicates the anticipated sequence of projects for the liquids, biosolids,
and effluent pump stations. These dates are subject to change.
In 2025, the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville worked with Tetratech
and NCDEQ to update their individual Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Mitigation
Management Plans (SCIIMP)s in a common format. As a result, each town has SCIMMP,
which describes the existing environmental conditions within the town's planning area,
land use and infrastructure master plans, the potential secondary and cumulative impacts
(SCI) resulting from planned infrastructure, and the management programs which
address the SCI. Environmental assessments and environmental impact statements will
reference the SCIMMP for SCI.
https://www.carync.gov/services-publications/plans-publications-reports/secondary-and-
cumulative-impacts-plan
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1.3 RFQ Timeline
Provided below is a list of the anticipated schedule of events related to this solicitation.
Cary reserves the right to modify and/or adjust this schedule to meet the needs of the
project. All times shown are Eastern Time (ET):
RFQ Process Date and time
RFQ Advertisement Date Thursday, April 2, 2026
Pre-Submittal Conference Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 3PM
Western Wake Regional Water
Reclamation Facility Training Room
3500 Reclamation Rd, New Hill, NC
27562
Deadline for written questions Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Town Response to Questions Friday, April 24, 2026
(anticipated)
Submittal Due Date and Time Friday, May 8, 2026 at 3PM
Evaluation Meeting (anticipated) May 2026
Interviews (if required) June 2026
Selection Announcement (tentative) June 2026
1.4 Pre-Submittal Conference
Non-Mandatory: All Proposers are URGED and cautioned to attend a PRE-
SUBMITTAL CONFERENCE/SITE VISIT set forth below. A non-mandatory
preproposal conference is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET at
Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility Training Room, 3500 Reclamation
Rd, New Hill, NC 27562. The preproposal conference allows the vendors to ask
questions regarding the RFQ that will be included in a written addendum on the NC eVP
website.
Vendor is cautioned that any information released to attendees during the preproposal
conference, and which conflicts with, supersedes, or adds to requirements in this Request
for Qualifications, must be confirmed by written addendum before it can be considered to
be a part of this proposal.
It is the Proposer's responsibility to assure that all addenda have been reviewed
and returned with the proposal.
1.5 Questions
Requests for clarification and questions to this RFQ must be received by the Town not
later than the date shown above in Section 1.3, entitled "RFQ Timeline", for the submittal
of written inquires. The Town will not entertain any further questions after the due date.
All questions related to this solicitation must be submitted in writing (via email) to the
following individual:

Contact Name Email Address
Corrie Bondar corrie.bondar@carync.gov
Indicate "RFQ #354-UT26-25- Questions" in the subject of the email. Questions
submitted via telephone will not be answered.
The Town shall issue addenda reflecting questions and answers to this RFQ, if any, which
shall be posted to the NC eVP website. No information, instruction or advice provided
orally or informally by any Town personnel, whether made in response to a question or
otherwise in connection with this RFQ, shall be considered authoritative or binding.
Respondents shall be entitled to rely only on written material contained in an Addendum
to this RFQ.
It is important that all Respondents submitting to this RFQ periodically check the
NC eVP website for any Addenda. It is the Respondent's responsibility to ensure
that all addenda have been reviewed and, if required, signed and returned.
1.6 Submittal Requirements and Contact Information
Electronic responses ONLY will be accepted through the NC eVP website. Interested
parties must be logged in to submit proposals electronically. Registration information is
available at NC Electronic Vendor Portal (eVP). Proposals must be clearly marked with
name of the submitting company, the RFQ number and RFQ title (Your Company Name
354-UT26-25 Western Wake Regional WRF Liquids Train Expansion PER).
Proposers must submit one (1) electronic version, submitted as a viewable and printable
Adobe Portable Document File (PDF), on or before the submittal due date and time
provided in Section 1.3. Submissions that do not comply with the stated submission
method will be deemed non-responsive.
Cary reserves the right to reject any or all proposals for any reason and to waive any
informality it deems in its best interest. Any requirements in the RFQ that cannot be met
must be indicated in the proposal. Proposers must respond to the entire Request for
Qualifications (RFQ). An incomplete proposal may be eliminated from consideration
at the discretion of Cary.
It is the responsibility of the Firm to ensure that their response arrives at the designated
location specified in this Section by the due date and time specified in Section 1.3 RFQ
Timeline.
1.7 Rights to Submitted Material
All proposals and supporting materials, as well as correspondence relating to this RFQ,
shall become the property of Cary. The content of all submittals will be held confidential
until the selection of the firm is made. Proposals will be reviewed by the Evaluation Team,
and may also be reviewed by other Cary staff or members of the general public who
submit public record requests. Any proprietary data must be clearly marked. In submitting
a Proposal, each Prospective Proposer agrees that Cary may reveal any trade secret
materials contained in such response to all Cary staff and officials involved in the selection
process as well as any outside consultant or other third party who serves on the
Evaluation Team or who is hired by Cary to assist in the selection process. Proposals
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