TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 4, 2016
COMMITTEE ON MONITORING AND RESEARCH
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Authority to Subscribe to the Water Environment Research Foundation for the 2016 Annual Research Commitment in an amount not to exceed $138,000.00, Account 101-15000-612280
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to make payment, by direct voucher, to the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) for the 2016 Annual Research Commitment, in an amount not to exceed $138,000.00.
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) is in receipt of the 2016 annual subscription renewal notice from the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) for the period January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.
WERF is currently sponsoring 85 projects totaling approximately $23 million, of which $8 million is WERF's cost for the projects. Of these 85 projects, 55 projects, totaling about $19 million of expenditures, are especially applicable to the District and are summarized below.
1. Project CEC6R12, Application of Site Screening Tools to Evaluate Ecological Effects from Trace Organics in the Aquatic Environment, Budget - $637,278
2. Project NTRY4R14, A Multi-Platform Approach to Recovering High Value Carbon Products from Waste Streams, Budget - $667,348
3. Project WERF4C14, Agricultural BMP Database - Analysis of Soybean Related Water Issues at 8 or 10-Digit HUC Scale, Budget - $47,480
4. Project LINK1T11a, Applicability Analysis of Existing Models for Site-Specific Water Quality Criteria to Protect Designated Uses from Nutrient Impacts - Outreach, Budget - $30,000
5. Project ENER18C15, Assess Public Private Partnerships and Opportunities for Water and Wastewater Energy Projects, Budget - $150,000
6. Project ENER17C15, Barriers and Opportunities for Distributed Energy Resource Integration for Water and Wastewater Utilities and Energy Utilities, Budget - $232,000
7. Project U2R14, Bench and Pilot Studies of Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactors (MABRs) for Energy Efficient Wastewater Treatment, Budget - $245,494
8. Project SIWM11C15, Beneficial Use of Graywater and Stormwater: An Assessment of Risks, Costs, and Benefits, Budget - $20,000
9. Project NTRY3R13, Beyond Nutrients: Recovering Carbon and Other Commodity Products from Wastewater, Budget - $103,681
10. Project U3R14, Carbon Capture and Management Strategies for Energy Harvest from Wastewater, Budget - $576,471
11. Project ENER12R13, Co-Digestion of Organic Waste - Addressing Operational Side Effects, Budget - $345,875
12. Project ENER9C13, Co-Digestion of Organic Waste - Addressing Operational Side Effects, Budget - $299,350
13. Project WERF9C15, Coliphage Expert Review, Budget - $10,000
14. Project LIFT8C14, Creating the Space to Innovate, Budget - $20,000
15. Project ENER16C15, Design and Validation Protocol for UV Disinfection Systems Used in Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Applications, Budget - $542,000
16. Project ENER8R13, Developing Solutions to Operational Side Effects Associated with Co-Digestion of High Strength Organic Wastes, Budget - $786,447
17. Project STAR_N2R14(SG), Development and Implementation of a Process Technology Toolbox for Sustainable Biological Nitrogen Removal Using Mainstream Deammonification, Budget - $256,332
18. Project INFR2R14(SG), Development of a Framework for the Formation of a National Testing and Evaluation Program in the Stormwater Sector Based Upon the National Stormwater Testing and Evaluation for Practices and Program (STEPP) Initiative, Budget - $39,925
19. Project NUTR1R06-TO5, Efficient, Cost-Effective Nutrient Removal from Wastewater, Budget - $1,888,910
20. Project NUTR1R06-TO6 (aka NUTR5R14), Efficient, Cost-Effective Nutrient Removal from Wastewater, Budget - $594,778
21. Project U1R11, Effluent Organic Nitrogen Produced within Wastewater Treatment Plants, Budget - $204,072
22. Project ENER13T14, Energy Recovery from Thermal Oxidation of Wastewater Solids - State of the Science Review, Budget - $615,107
23. Project ENER14R14, ESTCP Food to Fuel Project, Budget - $78,280
24. Project U2R13, Evaluating Fate Mechanisms for Contaminants of Concern in BNR Treatment Systems, Budget - $159,717
25. Project U3R13, Extraction of Lipids from Wastewater to Produce Biofuels, Budget - $592,811
26. Project LIFT11C15, Fostering Research and Innovation within Water Utilities, Budget - $142,000
27. Project INFR6R11, Full-Plant Deammonification for Energy Positive Nitrogen Removal, Budget - $2,144,200
28. Project ENER11R13, Guidelines for Utilities Wishing to Conduct Pilot Scale Demonstrations, Budget - $28,269
29. Project NTRY7R15, High Quality Biosolids from Wastewater, Budget - $1,179,649
30. Project NTRY11T15, High-Tech Analysis of Low-Tech Methods for Sustainable Class A Biosolids Production, Budget - $61,874
31. Project 03-SW-1COg, International Stormwater BMP Database Phase VIII, Budget - $109,830
32. Project U1R13, Investigate the Mechanism for Optimization and Design of Side-Stream EBPR Process as a Sustainable Approach for Achieving Stable and Efficient Phosphorus Removal, Budget - $543,239
33. Project LIFT2R14, LIFT Database, Budget - $11,100
34. Project SW1R06-TO5b, Linking Stormwater BMP Systems Performance to Receiving Water Protection to Improve Selection and Design - Development of Version 1 of the Framework (Amendment to include Version 2), Budget - $275,729
35. Project ENER4R12, Low Energy Alternatives for Activated Sludge - Advancing Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Research, Budget - $651,100
36. Project ENER5R12, More Juice from Wastewater and Solids Treatment, Budget - $361,840
37. Project U3R12, Nationwide Metaomics Survey of Denitrifying Microbial Communities in Wastewater Treatment Systems, Budget - $218,882
38. Project NTRY10T15, Nutrient Recovery through Urine Separation, Budget - $69,992
39. Project STAR_N1R14(SG), Nutrient Recovery through Urine Separation, Budget - $224,000
40. Project WERF1C15, Occurrence, Proliferation, and Persistence of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance during Wastewater Treatment, Budget - $158,180
41. Project WERF2C15, Potential for Exposure to Ebola Virus Surrogates Aerosolized from Wastewater Systems, Budget - $35,000
42. Project NTRY5R14, Producing Value-Added Bioplastic from Methane Gas Generated by Water Resource Recovery Facilities, Budget - $525,670
43. Project NTRY6R14, Production of Bioisoprene from Wastewater, Budget - $219,358
44. Project WERF3C15, Protecting Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators from Emerging Pathogens: A Preparedness Protocol and Online Decision Support Tool, Budget - $121,289
45. Project WERF4C15, Risks from Ebola Discharge from Hospitals to Sewer Workers, Budget - $30,687
46. Project U4R13, Simple and Fast Detection of Bacteria in Recreational Water, Budget - $195,816
47. Project U4R12, Stabilization of Main Plant Nitration/Denitration Performance, Budget - $403,855
48. Project TIRR1R15, State of Knowledge and Workshop Report: Intensification of Resource Recovery (IR squared), Budget - $10,000
49. Project ENER10C13, State of the Science and Issues Related to Heat Recovery from Wastewater, Budget - $130,667
50. Project WERF1T13, Stream Restoration as a BMP, Budget - $110,000
51. Project U5R14, Stream Restoration: A Crucial New BMP Database Module, Budget - $145,000
52. Project NTRY9T15, Sustainable Struvite Control Using Residual Gas from Digester Gas Cleaning Process, Budget - $492,116
53. Project WERF5C15, The Survival of Surrogates for Ebola in Sewage and Wastewater Treatment (University of Arizona), Budget - $35,000
54. Project NTRY1R12, Towards a Renewable Future: Assessing Resource Recovery as a Viable Treatment Alternative, Budget - $1,040,033
55. Project CC5C11, Use of ASM Process Models for Minimizing Wastewater Quality Greenhouse Gas Footprints - Research Collaboration with IWA Task Group on Greenhouse Gas, Budget - $30,000
By remaining a subscriber to WERF, the District will reap the benefits of the findings from various projects in a timely manner through WERF's excellent progress reports and final reports. The information that will be gathered particularly in the areas of water quality, wastewater treatment, energy recovery, sludge processing, and nutrient removal will be highly beneficial to the District's current operations and future planning of capital improvement projects. It is estimated that the District's annual investment of $138,000.00 for a WERF subscription saves the District many times that amount if this research were to be conducted in-house.
WERF, the sole-source of supply, has submitted pricing for the amount of the research commitment requested. Inasmuch as the research benefits are not available through any other source of supply, nothing would be gained by advertising for bids (Section 11.4 of the Purchasing Act).
It is hereby recommended that the Board of Commissioners authorize payment, by direct voucher, to WERF, in an amount not to exceed $138,000.00. Funds are available in Account 101-15000-612280.
Requested, Thomas C. Granato, Director of Monitoring and Research, TCG:MPC:KB:HZ:mh
Recommended, Eileen McElligott, Administrative Services Manager
Respectfully Submitted, David Walsh, Chairman Committee on Monitoring and Research
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for February 4, 2016