Bid Spec for Meters 2024~1.docx

INVITATION FOR BID

CITY OF NORTHAMPTON WATER DIVISION

WATER METERS

Bid Deadline: October 28th, 2024

INVITATION FOR BIDS

The Department of Public Works of the City of Northampton invites sealed bids for the purchase of Water Meters. Bid documents are available M-F, 8:30-4:00 at the Department of Public Works, 125 Locust Street, Northampton, MA, or by email: dpwinfo@northamptonma.gov until the bid opening, 1:00 p.m., October 28th 2024. The City reserves the right to reject any or all bids. This contract will be for 12 months from the date of execution. The City of Northampton reserves the right to extend the contract for an additional 2 years with the understanding that if necessary and there is a price increase from the manufacture the prices will not exceed the current (CPI) Consumers Price Index at that time.

NOTE: This contract is subject to appropriation and the contract will be terminated if funds are not appropriated for subsequent years. Estimated contract amount is $100,000.00 per year.

Daily Hampshire Gazette: Please print in Legal Notices

Date: October 28th 2024

Bill to Department of Public Works, 125 Locust Street, Northampton, MA 01060

INSTRUCTION TO BIDDERS

The City of Northampton Department of Public Works invites sealed bids for the purchase of Water Meters. Bid documents are available M-F, 8:30-4:30 at the Department of Public Works, 125 Locust Street, Northampton, MA, or by email: dpwinfo@northamptonma.gov until the bid opening, 1:00 p.m., October 28th, 2024. The City reserves the right to reject any or all bids. This contract will be for 12 months from the date of execution. The City of Northampton reserves the right to extend the contract for an additional 2 years and with the understanding that if necessary and there is a price increase from the manufacture the prices will not exceed the current (CPI) Consumers Price Index at that time.

NOTE: This contract is subject to appropriation and the contract will be terminated if funds are not appropriated for subsequent years. Estimated contract amount is $100,000.00 per year.

The attached bid form must be used.

Submit your bid in a sealed envelope marked “Water Meters”.

Bids are due no later than 1:00p.m., October 28th, 2024 at the Department of Public Works, 125 Locust Street, Northampton, MA 01060.

Bid award will be made within 30 days of the bid opening. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

Contract extensions are at the sole discretion of the City of Northampton.

City of Northampton, MA Department of Public Works Donna LaScaleia, Director

CRITERIA

Eight hours of training per year on meters, hardware and software by a factory trained and certified technician, at no charge to the water utility.

Toll free telephone support for hardware and software.

All meters must be compatible with Sensus Radio Read system utilizing 2 or 3 wired MXU’s

Meter manufacturer must have been manufacturing encoder meters for a minimum of 20 years.

Meter manufacturer shall warranty the meter registers for 20 years.

Successful bidder shall supply spare parts within one week.

Meter must be capable of being read Touch read and/or Radio Read without programming or altering the meter register.

The meter register must be totally electronic and not mechanical. No brush or contact registers will be allowed.

Technical Specifications:

LEAD-FREE RESIDENTIAL METERS (Sizes 5/8”, ¾”, 1”)

TYPE

For metering applications on services of 5/8” through 1” meter shall be a solid state, battery operated ultrasonic flow measurement system with a sealed, non-removable tamper- protected meter and register, electronic register with a 9-digit display.

To minimize maintenance costs over the life of the meter, the meter shall have no serviceable parts, other than the plumbing connections and electrical signaling connections.

To reduce installation costs and inconveniences, the meter may be installed in any physical orientation without affecting meter accuracy or meter longevity. Meter shall be available in industry standard lay-lengths.

CONFORMANCE TO STANDARDS

The meter must conform to American Water Works Standard C-700 and C-710 as most recently revised with respect to accuracy and pressure loss requirements, or other appropriate American Water Works Standard.

The meter must be compliant with ANSI/NSF Standard 61 Annex G. Wetted parts shall be completely lead-free.

REGISTER

The register must be an electronic device encapsulated, weather proof and UV resistant with 9 digits utilizing a liquid crystal display (LCD). It will have indicators for flow direction, empty pipe, battery life and unit of measurement. The register shall not be removable from the measuring sensor. The register shall be able to connect to a touch read, radio read or fixed base meter reading system in either an inside or pit set installation. Metering protocol shall be the industry standard Sensus MXU connections to be compatible with the utility’s meter reading system. Meter shall be compatible with and available with touch pads which are compatible with the utility’s meter reading system; or the meter shall be compatible with the utility’s current or planned AMR/AMI system

The register shall provide internal data logging capabilities. With additional equipment, the utility shall be able to download hourly water consumption readings directly from the meter for a time period spanning the most recent several weeks. This data is an important feature to permit the utility to help the utility’s customers understand their water consumption patterns, and to resolve billing disputes. This feature shall be available regardless of whether the meter is connected to an AMR/AMI system or not.

MEASURING ELEMENT

The measuring element shall be made of a non-corrosive, lead-free polymer or PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) based resin. A battery powered ultrasonic flow sensor utilizing ultrasonic signals that are sent consecutively in forward and reverse directions. The time difference between the two signals can be converted into flow velocity which can determine volume.. The measuring element will have no moving parts and will be specific for each size.

EXTERNAL HOUSING

The register and measuring element will be an integrated unit housed within a thermal plastic external casing. This integrated unit will not be removable from the external housing. The systems shall have the size and direction of water flow through the system imprinted on the external housing.

ACCURACY AND HEADLOSS TESTS

Systems shall conform to, or exceed, current AWWA C-700 and C-710, current revision, or other appropriate American Water Works Standard, test flows, head-loss and accuracy standards.

Meter shall have documented headloss which is significantly less than traditional positive displacement meters.

PRESSURE CAPABILITY

System shall operate up to a working pressure of 200 pounds per square inch (psi), without leakage or damage to any parts. The accuracy shall not be affected by variation of pressure up to 200 psi.

PERFORMANCE WARRANTIES

Meter shall carry a nationally published manufacturer’s warranty which covers accuracy and manufacturing defects for twenty years. Meter, (exclusive of external covering), shall be warranted to operate properly for 20 years, with a proration program after the first fifteen (15) years of the warranty. Meter shall be warranted to perform to new meter accuracy for 20 years, without proration.

FACTORY DOCUMENTATION

Each meter shall include a factory documentation tag, attached to the meter. The tag will provide a bar-coded serial number showing the meter’s register ID. It shall also show data proving that the meter was tested for accuracy at the factory. This tag shall have a removable section with duplicated information; thus, one copy of the factory information can be left on the meter while the other copy can be removed and kept with the utility’s records.

SUPPLIER

Supplier shall be a distributor with a stocking location within five hours drive of the utility. . Supplier shall employ factory trained metering specialists who are available to visit the utility to provide additional training, support, and trouble-shooting as needed. Such metering specialist shall routinely be available in the utility’s general geographic region.

LEAD FREE METER IN SIZES 1.5” AND 10”:

For certain residential applications with high flow range requirements, a residential-use ultrasonic meter shall be used. This meter will be allowed by the Water Division Superintendent for smaller apartment buildings (up to six units) or for individual houses where a larger meter may be required due to occasional high water usage events, such as irrigation or special plumbing applications.

The meter package shall meet or exceed all requirements of ANSI/AWWA Standard C701 for Class II turbine meter assemblies and exceeds ANSI/ AWWA C700 Residential Standard. Each meter assembly shall be performance tested to ensure compliance.

The meter assembly shall have performance capability of continuous operation up to the rated maximum flows as listed below without affecting long-term accuracy or causing any undue component wear.

Low flow accuracy (95% to 102.5%) shall be at least:

1-1/2” meter: .25 GPM to 200 GPM;

2” meter: .25 GPM to 200 GPM

Maximum headloss through the meter / strainer assembly shall not exceed:

1-1/2” meter: 6.9 PSI @ 160 GPM 2” meter: 4.3 PSI @ 160 GPM

The measuring chamber shall consist of a measuring element and all-electronic register. The measuring element comes integrated with the advanced Ultrasonic Technology design. The measuring chamber shall be capable of operating within the above listed accuracy limits without calibration when transferred from one main case to another of the same size. The measuring shall be so configured to capture all flows as specified above. The meter may be installed in vertical or horizontal orientation without loss of accuracy or mechanism longevity.

The Ultrasonic flow shall communicate water consumption via transit time method. There will be no magnetic or mechanical drag with this technology. This is designed to extend service life, enhance low flow sensitivity and provide extended flow capacity and overall accuracy of the meter assembly. Any and all additional intermediate, magnetic or mechanical, drive couplings are not acceptable.

The meter’s register is all-electronic and does not contain any mechanical gearing to display totalization. The electronic register includes the following partial list of features:

• AMR resolution units fully programmable

• Large, easy-to-read LCD display

• 10-year battery life guarantee

The meter assembly shall operate properly without leakage, damage, or malfunction up to a maximum working pressure of 200 pounds per square inch (psi).

BID FORM

FOR

WATER METERS

Following is a list of number and sizes of meters that might be purchased as a result of this proposal and for use in comparing prices quoted. Purchases will be made from time to time as meters are required. A unit price for each size meter must be quoted. Prices will be in effect for a minimum of one year.

Estimated, for each year approximate Number and sizes of Meters, not guaranteed nor implied, but for assistance to bidders only:

225 - 5/8” X ¾” meters, without connections…………… ___________________each

20 - ¾” meters, without connections………………… ___________________each

40 - 1” meters, without connections……………………..____________________each

3 - 1-1/2” meters without connection flanges. ___________________each

6 - 2” meters without connection flanges… ___________________each

2 - 3” meters without connection flanges…….___________________each

2 - 4” meters without connection flanges…….___________________each

1 - 6” meters without connection flanges…….___________________each

1 - 8” meters without connection flanges…….___________________each

Total Estimated Contract_________________________

All meters shall meet, or exceed the standards set forth in the appropriated section of AWWA Standards C-700- and C-710 for meters as most recently amended for the type meter quoted on.

Submit in Duplicate:

Complete specifications are required with each bid.

The undersigned certifies under penalties of perjury that this bid or proposal has been made and submitted in good faith and without collusion or fraud with any other person. As used in this certification, the word “person” shall mean any natural person, business, partnership, corporation, union, committee, club, or other organization, entity, or group of individuals.

Signed by________________________________________________

Company Name___________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________

Telephone No.____________________________________________