Performance Work Statement WMP monitoring and Legionella Testing.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

VISN 6 Water Management Contract

VISN 6 will solicit an annual service contract with four one-year option periods to provide services to test for legionella in facility/building potable water systems as identified in the attached VISN 6 Directive 1061 Water Sampling Requirements. The Offeror shall possess an understanding of the Government’s requirements and an understanding of the nature of the work to be performed under the prospective contract guidelines. The Offeror shall provide a technical team of qualified staff, partners, consultants, and sub-offeror to perform the work.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The base year/period shall be awarded July 1, 2026. Total period of performance shall be the base year/period plus four option years.

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Provide all the necessary services to provide guidance and monitoring for the seven VISN 6 facilities Water Management Programs (WMP). Contractor shall provide a minimum of 1 face-to-face meeting per year for each facility in February or March to review contract execution prior to the exercise of each option year. In Option Year 2, this meeting will also serve to review each facility’s WMP to ensure each facility’s WMP meets the current requirements of VA Directive 1061 Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Legionella Disease and Scald Injury from Potable Water Distribution Systems. This review shall be documented in a report to the COR with a copy to the technical manager at each facility by June 30, 2027.

2. Provide Legionella testing and the other data as identified in the attached VISN 6 Directive 1061 Water Sampling Requirements and the sample data spreadsheets, including Temperature, Residual/Total Cl and pH. Testing shall be accomplished quarterly in: Testing may be accomplished in other months, with the medical center POC approval. Facilities shall receive one-week notice prior to taking any samples, POCs identified are in the table below. Facilities shall receive all water testing results directly from the laboratory performing analysis and within 24 hours of release of laboratory reports. Each facility shall receive a full summary report within 15 days of the sample date.

Sampling shall be in accordance with CDC Legionella Sampling procedures and shall be a first draw sample. Samples are to be taken from both the hot and cold-water systems from the distal point of delivery. If the location to be sampled has a filter, the filter shall be removed and a first draw sample taken. The facility may ask for a discretionary sample to be taken after flushing the location, but the first draw must be taken and recorded. In order to obtain the hot water temperature, or if the fixture has mixing valves, water shall be flushed after the legionella sample is taken in order to record the water temperature.

If a building has ice machines, they will be tested quarterly and counted towards the building’s 20 samples. If the ice machine has a water dispenser, then the sample may be drawn from the dispenser, if not, collect ice from the bin or ice dispenser. Enough ice must be collected, such that when it melts, 250 ml of water is sent to the testing laboratory.

Data will also be input into 2 data upload spreadsheets provided at contract award (samples of the spreadsheets are attached). There will be one spreadsheet for building samples and one for tower samples provided to the POCs and COR named below. The data upload spreadsheet may change in minor aspects periodically, and the COR will provide updated spreadsheets to the contractor when this occurs. Contractor shall populate all columns, except Column G, Occupancy, which will be completed by the technical manager upon receipt of the completed spreadsheet. Contractor shall not change the spreadsheet format or columns. In columns that are not applicable, such as “Was PCR screening option chosen,” leave blank. The completed spreadsheets will be uploaded by the POCs to the national Water Safety Management Tool and cannot be altered.

3. Low Level and High-Level Remediation: Remediations shall be performed at the request of the COR. Low level remediation shall raise the residual chlorine level to 5 ppm, while high level remediation shall raise the residual chlorine level up to 200 ppm. For High level remediation, contractor shall supply at least 2 people to aid the facility in flushing to return the residual chlorine level to safe drinking water standards < 4 ppm.

The Contractor shall provide all labor, material, supplies, management and supervision necessary to add chlorine in the injection point downstream of the backflow preventer, disinfection of the potable water system. Water samples will be taken immediately following the hyper-chlorination for the required domestic water testing:

a. The contractor will open faucets at the furthest location from the point of injection and verify that the drains can handle the flow.

b. The contractor will raise the levels to the required ppm and check by using test strips at each water outlet and log each one. Signage will be provided by the contractor to affix to the outlets.

c. Once the chlorine is brought into range at the last outlet, the levels will be maintained for a minimum of 4 hours and up to 8 hours at the discretion of the POC with each fixture tested for chlorine residual to verify that the level is maintained at the required ppm. The levels will be checked at the outlets prior to the flushing by the contractor.

d. The contractor will then open all water outlets to flush the chlorine. The level will be reduced to below 4 ppm at each outlet and recorded.

e. Once the levels are below 4 ppm, the contractor will remove the signs.

f. The contractor will provide a final report once the project is complete, including residual before during and after the remediation.

g. Test set-up shall be as follows:

Phone: (828) 298-7911 x5625 Email: daniel.schweikert@va.gov

Phone: 919-286-0411 EXT 172307 Email: Selby.primus@va.gov

Phone: (910) 488-2120 x5665 Email: Diony.ohakwe@va.gov

Phone: (757) 349-3497 Email: Michael.rondini@va.gov

Phone: (804) 675-5905 Email: isis.otero@va.gov

Phone: (540) 982-2463 x3879 Email: Timothy.Keating@va.gov

Phone: (704) 638-9000 x12333 Email: joseph.laurer@va.gov

Any positive detections shall result in required resampling with 5 working days of notification by the facility technical manager.

The following information shall be provided as indicated on the attached sample spreadsheets and shall include: Building, Floor, Asset Type, Sample ID, Date Sampled, Date Reported, Barcode, Location, Legionella Test #, Legionella Total (CFU/mL), LP SG1 (CFU/mL), LP SG2-14 (CFM/mL), Legionella Other (CFU/mL), Fluorescent Legionella, Sample Temperature (degrees F), Free Chlorine (mg/L), Total Chlorine (mg/L), pH, and a column for notes. Cooling towers (CTs) shall be identified by building served and cell number. Each cooling tower cell shall have 2 samples drawn from diagonally opposite ends of each cell, if the draw can be accomplished safely.

VISN 6 Directive 1061 Water Sampling Requirements (Estimates, may vary)

ST

3,462

Qualifications of Offeror

The company selected to perform this work must be an independent provider of water management services engaged in the development and on ongoing management of facility and corporate water management programs.

The Offering Organization must have the following in-house capabilities/qualifications:

· Lab for Legionella testing that is certified by the CDC Environmental Legionella Isolation Techniques Evaluation (ELITE) Program, or the PHE Legionella EQA scheme and has experience in culturing Legionella from environmental water samples and be accredited in environmental microbiological testing and provide certification of accreditation. The lab must provide culture methods for identification of Legionella and must be capable of detecting, at a minimum, 1 colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/ml).

· The testing Lab shall use a traditional culture method that will detect all species of Legionella, not just a subset of Legionella species. The method used on the VISN 6 water samples shall be the same traditional culture method the laboratory used to receive certification.

· Contractor shall provide a copy of the lab’s certification annually and ensure it maintains the certification during the contract performance period, including the option years. If the lab does not maintain the certification or loses its certification for any reason the contractor shall find another lab with the required certification at no additional cost to the Government.

· Project Managers possess a bachelor’s degree or higher in science or engineering and are certified HACCP Managers. These qualifications and certifications demonstrate expertise in developing legally defensible water safety programs

· Demonstrated expertise and experience in developing Water Management Programs that address both cost and safety issues in potable and utility water

· Five years’ experience collecting and reporting legionella tests in a hospital environment.

· Qualified water samplers, with training documented and completed prior to taking any samples. Training shall be updated annually and reported to the COR and Technical Managers.

TESTING

Offerors shall provide individual laboratory analytical reports for each test conducted and summary laboratory analytical reports for each round of testing.

Offerors must be able to provide CDC-ELITE certified Legionella tests from a culture-based method that does not require the shipment of a water sample (NWSSL – no water sample shipped Legionella). The microbiological characteristics of water begin to change as soon as a water sample enters a sample bottle, which could possibly result in erroneous test results. The possibility of having to remediate based upon false positive results or the alternative possibility of not remediating when action is required cannot be allowed.

Offerors must provide CDC-ELITE certified Legionella tests from a culture-based method that requires the shipment of a water sample (ISO 11731 Spread Plate Method). Currently, VHA adheres to the CDC recommendation of a 1-liter water sample per test; therefore, the laboratory must be able to test for Legionella using this sample size. Regular quarterly samples test volumes can be 250 mL, however, all retests shall be 1 liter.

Legionella Test Bundle – (NWSSL, THAB, ISO & PCR) L. pneumophila serogroup 1 @ t =0 L. pneumophila serogroups 2-14 @ t = 0 Legionella species @ t = 0 Total Heterotrophic Aerobic Bacteria (THAB) @ t = 0 ISO 11731 Spread Plate Method

PRICING- See CLINS

1Sample testing price shall include the reporting requirements.

Billing shall be quarterly after receipt of all Laboratory Samples results and the completed building/tower spreadsheets.

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