Letter_to_City_of_Plant_City_Phosphate_pricing_(November_2025).pdf
PDF 180 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Notice of Intent to Sole Source Aqua Solv SC
- Solicitation number
- 26-010UO-MD-NOI
- Issued by
- Hillsborough County, Florida
About this file
This is a pricing letter from Flo-Tec Inc. to the City of Plant City Water Department (COPCWD) regarding the continued supply of Aqua-Solv-SC, a proprietary NSF-approved water treatment chemical used for corrosion mitigation in municipal metal piping systems. Flo-Tec has supplied this specialized chemical to the city for nearly 45 years, with the formula originally developed in 1980 through collaboration between Flo-Tec founder Hal Thomas and the city engineer. The letter addresses the city's need for transparent pricing given anticipated supply chain disruptions from proposed tariffs on imported raw materials and domestic production cost increases. Flo-Tec emphasizes its commitment to maintaining competitive pricing through relationships with a minimum of three approved NSF raw material vendors and leveraging significant buying power from manufacturing over 25,000 units of related drinking water products.
Flo-Tec proposes a pricing structure effective in 2025 based on a 35 percent markup of raw material costs only, with price adjustments made at the time of each order to reflect current material costs. Raw material invoices will be provided upon request to ensure transparency. The company has historically served as a pricing stabilizer for the city; the previous price increase occurred in 2008, with an interim adjustment in July 2021, and from 2022 through 2024 maintained city costs at approximately 30 percent markup (capped at 50 percent) despite pandemic-related supply chain volatility. This sole source procurement is justified by the proprietary nature of the chemical formulation, the specialized NSF certification requirements, and Flo-Tec's unique capability to deliver consistent quality and reliable supply for this critical water treatment application.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 2025_Sole_Source_Letter.pdf | ||
| Letter_to_City_of_Plant_City_Phosphate_pricing_(November_2025).pdf |
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Text version
ENGINEERED SOLUTIONS
Dear Mr. Darrow (City of Plant City Water Dept.): November 3, 2025
Good afternoon, Per our conversation today please accept this letter to reiterate the content of our conversation.
Flo-Tec has made a long-term commitment to keep the product pricing stable to COPCWD, especially since we are the sole supplier for this product. In that regard, Flo-Tec has acted as a partner and a shock absorber for small price fluctuations, over many years. We have provided this proprietary blend to the COPCWD for almost 45 years and we consider you is a legacy account, since Hal Thomas, founder of Flo-Tec, developed this formula with input from Mr.
Nabong (City Engineer) in 1980. Before the July 2021 price adjustment our previous price increase for this blend was in
2008, since the raw material costs tended to be very stable.
In 2022, we proposed a unique pricing structure, due to supply chain issues (caused by the pandemic) that resulted in a very volatile market for the raw materials used in this blend. This program has been used for the past 2 years and has maintained the city’s cost at about 30% markup of the actual raw material costs (capping the markup to 50%). Although, the in the past 12-months, the prices have been stable, we are being told by suppliers to prepare for the effects of the proposed tariffs on imports from China and others to drive up the domestically produced raw materials (which Flo-Tec only purchases US produced raw materials). Because of this, it would be very difficult to provide a fixed price to
COPCWD for the 2025 purchasing year period.
When the Chinese product availability became limited during the pandemic, we experienced nearly 25% increases in the raw materials for this blend in just a four-month period. That doesn't even consider other costs that have also been on the rise (labor, fuel, NSF registrations fees, etc.). The Aqua-Solv-SC is an NSF approved compound, as such we are limited to a select group of approved NSF raw materials manufacturers/suppliers. We maintain a minimum of three vendors to get competitive pricing and assure availability.
Our new proposal, which was instituted in 2025, working within the framework of the City of Plant City and allows your account to remain modestly profitable to Flo-Tec Inc.. Flo-Tec will calculate your price based on a 35% markup of the cost of the raw materials only, as described above, as of the current costs at the time of your order. Under this pricing method we will adjust the city’s price (either up or down) should the costs for these raw materials change.
Raw material invoices will be made available upon request.
Further, we assure you that we are always pursuing the best raw material prices for qualified raw materials. We also manufacture another NSF registered drinking water product used in over 25,000 multi-family units which includes the same raw materials as COPCWD’s (in different ratios), so our buying power with our vendors is significant.
Thank you for the continued partnership with us to provide Plant City residents with safe potable water.
Best Regards, Jerry Virgilio
General Manager
Flo-Tec Inc.
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