FPUD transfers wastewater treatment plant SCADA integration services directly to Arcadis

The Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) board voted 5-0 Feb. 23 to transfer the consultant contract for programming and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) integration support services at FPUD’s Wastewater Treatment Plant from Advanced Telemetry Systems International, Inc., to Arcadis.

“We determined that by making this change we could accelerate the schedule,” said FPUD general manager Brian Brady.

“We were concerned about whether the project schedules will be met. By making this move we have assured ourselves that they will be,” Brady said. “We had the option to make the change and we thought it would improve the performance of the contract.”

The rehabilitation of FPUD’s wastewater treatment plant will increase the facility’s reliability and improve compliance with regulatory requirements. The upgrades will also allow for storage of recycled water, and a new dechlorination facility will ensure compliance with FPUD’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2012.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades will include improved control and automation of the facilities to allow for remote monitoring and troubleshooting which would minimize disruptions and failures.

In April 2012, the FPUD board awarded a contract for integration services to ATSI, which is based in Escondido. ATSI chose to perform the integration, training, and testing work themselves while subcontracting the programming work to Arcadis.

In August 2012, FPUD approved a $690,500 construction management services contract with Arcadis, and in May 2013 FPUD awarded a $25,507,000 construction contract with Archer Western Contractors. A $28.7 million State Revolving Fund loan which covers oversight and administrative costs as well as the construction will be paid back over 20 years at a rate of approximately 2.2 percent. Construction began in July 2013, and FPUD expects the rehabilitation work to be complete by December 2015.

“By the end of this year we’ll be wrapping up the rehab and we want all of the initial controls completed,” Brady said.

The programming work has been performed on schedule, but the screen development and training tasks have not met schedule standards. “We were concerned about the deliverables and timing,” Brady said.

The lack of testing, screen development, and training led to operational problems during the start-up of one of the facilities. Those tasks, along with the $115,000 originally earmarked for ATSI, will be transferred directly to Arcadis. On Jan. 29, ATSI was provided a notice terminating their contract. The Arcadis individual who completed the programming will be performing the remaining screen development and training work.

Because the funding was transferred, no new expenditures were required. “There will be no impact on the project budget,” Brady said.