• City staff is recommending Council reject all bids received for the ITB 23-44: Sewage Lift Pump for Vancouver Marine Park Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF).
• One bid was received on October 26, 2023, and it was 9.4 times higher than the Engineer’s Estimate. This project was bid as a goods only purchase of two sewage lift pumps.
• Bid rejection will allow the project to pursue competitive pricing by establishing more standard requirements and specifications, which should allow more vendors to bid.

The influent sewage lift pumps are a critical infrastructure component to Vancouver’s wastewater treatment services. The Marine Park WWTF sewage influent pump gallery contains two newer non-clog pumps and three pumps from original construction in the 1990’s. The three older pumps clog with wipes and debris within two days of operation and require treatment plant operators to manually remove the material from pumps. Replacement of two of the larger old pumps with newer non-clog pumps is necessary to ensure a safer workplace and more reliable operation.

This project was bid on October 26, 2023, for the purchase of two Sewage Lift Pumps for Vancouver’s Marine Park WWTF. One bid was received and opened.  The bid was $862,969.30 which is 9.5 times higher than the published engineer’s estimate of $90,000.

The engineer’s estimate (as published) was based on a single, smaller pump. The estimate was erroneously not updated when the project turned to pursuing larger pumps.

Staff and their consultant engineer are evaluating pump specifications and bid requirements to ensure cost-effective and competitive prices for the purchase of these replacement pumps. 

Re-bidding the project will allow staff to ensure more competitive pricing by establishing more standard requirements and specifications.