North Dakota State University PO Box 6050 Dept 3150 Fargo, ND 58108

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

RFP Title:

NDSU - ASTM Type I and Type III Pure Water System Replacement RFP Number: SRC000467 Issued: 10-20-2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION ONE – INSTRUCTIONS

1.1 PURPOSE OF RFP

North Dakota State University (NDSU) is seeking proposals from qualified Offerors to replace its existing pure-water treatment system with a complete, integrated ASTM Type I and ASTM Type III pure-water generation and distribution support system.

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to procure a reliable, efficient, and maintainable high-purity water treatment system capable of meeting the specified water-quality, production capacity, storage, and distribution requirements.

The successful Offeror shall provide system design, engineering, equipment selection, fabrication, supply, testing, delivery, startup and commissioning support, training, documentation, and warranty services, as specified in the RFP.

NDSU will consider qualified manufacturers, treatment technologies, and system configurations that meet or exceed the minimum technical and performance requirements identified in the solicitation.

1.2 PROCUREMENT OFFICER CONTACT INFORMATION

The Procurement Officer is the point of contact for this RFP. Offerors shall direct all communications regarding this RFP to the Procurement Officer. Do not add the Procurement Officer to any marketing distribution lists.

PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Casie Ewalt

EMAIL: casie.ewalt@ndsu.edu

PHONE: 701-231-9599

TTY Users call: 7-1-1

A person or firm interested in submitting a proposal should ensure all communications related to the procurement are only with the designated point of contact. This section does not restrict communication with state officials or any member of the legislative assembly unless the state official or member of the legislative assembly is involved directly with the procurement for which the person is interested or has submitted a bid or proposal (N.D.C.C. § 54-44.4-01.1).

Engaging in unauthorized communication or seeking to obtain information about an open solicitation with any state employee or official other than the responsible Procurement Officer or designee is sufficient grounds for suspension or debarment. (N.D.A.C. § 4-12-05-04(7))

1.3 DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of this RFP, the acronyms and defined terms are as follows:

DATE and TIME

SECTION TWO – BACKGROUND

2.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

North Dakota State University (NDSU) currently operates a pure-water treatment system that provides high-purity water for facility operations. NDSU intends to replace the existing system with an updated, integrated system capable of consistently producing and supporting the distribution of ASTM Type I and ASTM Type III water.

The replacement system must meet the facility's operational requirements while providing reliable water quality, adequate production capacity, appropriate storage and distribution capabilities, and efficient operation and maintenance.

The proposed system must be compatible with the available installation space, existing utilities, and facility infrastructure. The selected Offeror will be responsible for coordinating with NDSU and its designated contractors to support the installation, startup, commissioning, and successful operation of the replacement system.

NDSU has established minimum technical and performance requirements to ensure the replacement system meets its operational needs while allowing Offerors flexibility in proposing equipment, treatment technologies, and system configurations.

2.2 BUDGET

NDSU has established a budget for this project; however, the budget amount will not be disclosed publicly. Vendors should submit proposals that reflect fair and competitive pricing based on the scope of work and deliverables outlined in this solicitation.

The successful Offeror shall provide all professional services, engineering, equipment, fabrication, controls, documentation, testing, startup support, commissioning, training, warranty, and related services necessary to furnish a complete and operational ASTM Type I and ASTM Type III pure water system meeting the minimum requirements of this RFP.

· Review the Owner's available drawings, site information, utility conditions, and water-quality requirements.

· Review the Owner's available drawings, feed-water characteristics, anticipated water demand, and operational requirements.

· Verify and validate the required production capacity, flow rates, storage volumes, recovery rates, and distribution requirements necessary to achieve the specified ASTM Type I and ASTM Type III water quality.

· Provide a system design that maximizes operational reliability, water recovery efficiency, maintainability, serviceability, and lifecycle performance.

· Verify design assumptions and proposed system sizing before fabrication.

· Engineer and furnish a complete modular pure-water treatment system and all required skid-mounted components.

· Provide all equipment, valves, instrumentation, controls, accessories, and loose-shipped materials identified as Vendor-furnished.

· Coordinate equipment interfaces with the Owner and the Owner's mechanical and electrical contractors.

· Provide shop drawings, process flow diagrams, P&IDs, equipment layouts, piping information, electrical requirements, controls information, and sequence of operations.

· Factory test factory-assembled equipment and skid assemblies before shipment.

· Prepare, protect, and deliver equipment to the project site.

· Provide installation instructions and technical supervision for installation performed by others.

· Provide startup, programming, calibration, debugging, functional testing, commissioning assistance, and demonstration of system controls.

· Provide operator/maintenance training and complete closeout documentation.

· Provide warranty and post-installation service support.

3.2 Statement of Work

The Offeror shall design and furnish a central pure-water purification system capable of producing and supporting distribution of ASTM Type III and ASTM Type I water. The proposed system may use the Offeror's standard equipment and design approach provided all minimum performance, materials, controls, redundancy, water-quality, testing, and functional requirements in this RFP are met or exceeded.

3.3 Required System Performance

3.4 Minimum System Components

Minimum System Functionality The Offeror shall propose a complete, integrated high-purity water treatment system capable of consistently producing and supporting distribution of ASTM Type III and ASTM Type I water at the capacities, flow rates, pressures, and water-quality requirements specified in this RFP. The Offeror may use its standard treatment technologies and system configuration, provided the proposed solution meets or exceeds all minimum performance and functional requirements.

The Offeror shall determine the appropriate treatment processes, equipment configuration, storage, pumping, filtration, instrumentation, controls, and accessories necessary to achieve the required performance. The system shall include, at a minimum, the following functional capabilities:

· Treatment suitable for the available feed-water conditions and capable of achieving the specified ASTM Type III and Type I product-water quality.

· A 500-gallon atmospheric storage/buffer tank for ASTM Type III water.

· A 250-gallon storage/buffer tank for ASTM Type I water, with appropriate protection from atmospheric contamination consistent with the proposed design.

· Distribution/repressurization capability sufficient to meet the required Type III and Type I flow and pressure requirements, with redundancy appropriate to maintain reliable operation.

· Final treatment/polishing and microbial/TOC control as necessary to consistently achieve the specified product-water quality.

· Instrumentation sufficient to continuously monitor critical operating parameters and product-water quality, including conductivity/resistivity and other parameters necessary for safe, reliable operation.

· Central controls and operator interface with alarms, status indication, data monitoring, and BAS/BMS interface capability as required by the project.

· Appropriate valves, piping, supports, sample points, drains, isolation provisions, and accessories required for a complete, maintainable, and serviceable system.

· Equipment arrangement that fits within the available project footprint and height limitations while maintaining manufacturer-recommended service and maintenance clearances.

3.5 Vendor Responsibilities

· Serve as the single point of responsibility for the design and performance of the Vendor-furnished pure-water system.

· Confirm that the proposed system is compatible with the stated feed-water conditions and project utility requirements.

· Identify any required pretreatment, utility, space, drainage, ventilation, electrical, compressed-air, or other conditions necessary for proper operation.

· Coordinate all field connections and interfaces with work performed by others.

· Provide equipment that is new, commercially available, suitable for high-purity water service, and serviceable in the United States.

· Provide qualified technical personnel for startup, commissioning, troubleshooting, and training.

· Clearly identify any exceptions or deviations from the RFP. Silence shall be interpreted as compliance with the stated minimum requirement.

· Do not substitute proprietary limitations for the required performance. Brand/model references, if included in a proposal, shall be informational only.

3.6 Work by Others / Required Coordination

Unless specifically included by the Offeror and accepted by the Owner, field installation will be performed by the Owner's mechanical and electrical contractors. The successful Offeror shall provide the information and supervision necessary for proper installation.

· Installation of Vendor-furnished equipment and skids.

· Installation of interconnecting field piping and valves between Vendor-furnished equipment.

· Installation of field power and control wiring to Vendor-furnished panels and equipment.

· Connection of Building Management System inputs/outputs.

· Installation of pure-water distribution piping external to the Vendor-furnished system.

· Equipment pads and other building/site work shown on project drawings.

Implementation Schedule and Minimization of Service Interruption Offerors shall submit a preliminary implementation schedule with their Technical Proposal showing the shortest practical and achievable timeline from contract award through final acceptance. The schedule shall identify the duration of major phases, equipment lead time, critical dependencies, NDSU/Owner-contractor coordination, and anticipated interruption of existing pure-water service. State the total calendar days from award to final acceptance and the anticipated continuous service-interruption duration in hours or days. Distinguish vendor-controlled activities from work performed by NDSU or its designated contractors.

NDSU will consider the proposed implementation duration, anticipated service interruption, and demonstrated feasibility of the schedule during technical proposal evaluation. A shorter proposed duration does not waive required performance, testing, safety, or acceptance requirements. The successful Offeror shall submit a detailed, coordinated implementation and changeover schedule following award for NDSU review and approval before activities affecting existing service. The project must meet the June 15, 2027 final completion deadline.

3.7 Required Deliverables

The following are minimum contract deliverables. The Offeror shall include all costs necessary to provide them.

3.8 Testing, Commissioning and Acceptance

· Factory-assembled components and skid assemblies shall be functionally tested before shipment.

· Vendor-furnished piping subassemblies shall be leak tested before shipment.

· After installation, the Vendor shall inspect the completed installation for conformance with its requirements and the approved submittals.

· The Vendor shall perform or support startup, instrument calibration, controls checkout, alarm/interlock testing, programming, debugging, and functional demonstration.

· Final acceptance shall require demonstration that the system operates as intended and can achieve the specified ASTM Type I and Type III performance requirements under the agreed design conditions.

· Any deficiencies identified during startup or acceptance testing shall be corrected before final acceptance.

3.9 Training Requirements

The successful Offeror shall provide training for Owner-designated operations and maintenance personnel. Training shall be conducted after the system is operational and before final acceptance unless otherwise approved.

· System process and treatment overview.

· Normal startup, operation, shutdown, and restart.

· HMI/control panel operation and user access.

· Alarm response and troubleshooting.

· Routine water-quality monitoring.

· Preventive maintenance and recommended service intervals.

· Filter, UV lamp, resin, membrane, and other consumable/service requirements, as applicable.

· Redundant equipment operation and changeover.

· Safety considerations and system isolation.

3.10 Warranty and Service

· Offeror shall state the standard warranty term and coverage for the complete system and major components.

· Offeror shall identify warranty exclusions and any conditions required to maintain warranty coverage.

· Offeror shall describe available technical support, field service capability, response process, and recommended preventive-maintenance services.

· Offeror shall identify normal lead times and availability for critical replacement parts and consumables.

· Offeror shall provide service contact information at contract closeout.

3.11 Proposal / Bid Submittal Requirements

· Each Offeror shall provide enough information for the Owner to determine compliance with the minimum requirements.

· Company name, primary contact, and proposed system manufacturer/integrator.

· Description of the proposed treatment process and system configuration.

· Completed requirement-by-requirement compliance response indicating Comply, Exceeds, or Exception.

· Detailed description of every exception, substitution, or deviation.

· Proposed equipment list with manufacturer and model information for evaluation purposes.

· Performance data demonstrating the proposed system can meet the required production, distribution, and water-quality requirements.

· Preliminary equipment layout, dimensions, operating weights, and required service clearances.

· Electrical, water, drain, compressed-air, and other utility requirements.

· Controls/HMI and BAS/BMS integration description.

· Proposed project schedule, including submittals, fabrication, factory testing, shipment, startup, and training.

The preliminary schedule shall identify milestone durations in calendar days, total implementation days from award, anticipated water-service downtime, schedule assumptions, and coordination dependencies. The proposed timeline will be considered in technical evaluation.

· Warranty and service/support information.

· References or evidence of experience furnishing comparable high-purity water systems.

· Pricing presented in the format required by the solicitation, including separately identified optional items if requested.

3.12 Minimum Vendor Qualifications

· Offeror shall be regularly engaged in the design, fabrication, integration, supply, or service of high-purity water treatment systems.

· Offeror shall have a minimum of ten (10) years of experience designing, manufacturing, integrating, commissioning, and servicing high-purity water treatment systems.

· Offeror shall demonstrate successful experience with systems of similar complexity and water-quality requirements.

· Offeror shall provide references demonstrating successful implementation of comparable ASTM Type I and/or ASTM Type III pure-water systems.

· Offeror shall have qualified technical resources available for design support, startup, commissioning, training, and service.

· Offeror shall maintain a documented quality-control process appropriate to the equipment and services provided.

· Any proposed subcontractors performing material portions of the work shall be identified in the proposal.

3.13 Exceptions and Approved Equivalents

The requirements in this RFP are minimum requirements. An Offeror may propose equipment, components, materials, or design approaches that differ from those described, provided the Offeror demonstrates that the proposed solution meets or exceeds the required function, performance, water quality, reliability, materials compatibility, maintainability, controls integration, and safety requirements. All exceptions shall be clearly identified in the proposal. The Owner reserves the right to request supporting technical documentation necessary to evaluate equivalency.

SECTION FOUR - TECHNICAL MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements establish the Owner's minimum functional, performance, reliability, maintainability, controls, and interface requirements. The requirements were developed using available basis-of-design information; however, the basis of design is not a required manufacturer, model, treatment train, or proprietary configuration. Offerors may propose any qualified manufacturer and system configuration that meets or exceeds these minimum requirements.

4.1 GENERAL / DESIGN RESPONSIBILITY

· Provide a complete, new, integrated high-purity water system designed for continuous production and distribution support of ASTM Type III and ASTM Type I water.

· The Offeror is responsible for system design, equipment selection, compatibility of furnished components, fabrication, controls integration, factory testing, delivery, startup/commissioning support, training, and warranty/service support.

· The Offeror may use its standard treatment technologies and equipment arrangement. No specific proprietary treatment sequence, manufacturer, model, or component brand is required.

· The proposed system shall fit within the available project footprint and height constraints shown in the RFP drawings and shall maintain required operating and service clearances.

· The Offeror shall verify feed-water characteristics, utility conditions, field interfaces, and design assumptions before fabrication.

4.2 REQUIRED PERFORMANCE

4.3 PRODUCT-WATER QUALITY

The proposed system shall consistently meet or exceed the following minimum product-water criteria under the agreed design conditions.

4.4 TREATMENT PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT

· The Offeror shall select and size the treatment processes necessary to meet the specified capacity and water-quality requirements. Reverse osmosis, electrodeionization, membrane degasification/contactors, ion exchange, ultraviolet treatment, filtration, or other technologies may be used as appropriate to the Offeror's design.

· Treatment equipment shall be commercially available, suitable for high-purity water service, maintainable in the United States, and supported by the Offeror or an authorized service organization.

· All wetted materials downstream of primary purification shall be compatible with the required high-purity water quality and shall not adversely affect product-water quality.

· Equipment shall be arranged to provide safe access for operation, inspection, maintenance, calibration, consumable replacement, and component removal.

· The system shall include appropriate backflow prevention and inlet pressure management consistent with applicable codes and the proposed design.

4.5 STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION

· Provide one 500-gallon atmospheric storage/buffer tank for ASTM Type III water.

· Provide one 250-gallon storage/buffer tank for ASTM Type I water. The proposed design shall protect stored Type I water from contamination; the Offeror shall describe the method used.

· Tank materials, fittings, vents, level monitoring, drains, overflow provisions, and accessories shall be suitable for the applicable water quality and proposed operating conditions.

· Provide distribution/repressurization equipment capable of the specified flow and pressure. The Offeror shall describe the proposed redundancy and how distribution service is maintained during a single pump or equivalent component outage.

4.6 INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROLS

· Provide instrumentation necessary to monitor system performance, protect equipment, and verify product-water quality. At minimum, continuously monitor conductivity/resistivity at appropriate product-water locations and provide the pressure, flow, temperature, level, and differential-pressure monitoring required by the proposed design.

· Provide a central control system with operator interface/HMI, equipment status, alarms, interlocks, adjustable operating setpoints, and operating data appropriate to the proposed system.

· Provide BAS/BMS interface capability using an industry-standard communication method or hardwired I/O compatible with the project requirements. The Offeror shall identify the proposed interface.

· Controls shall provide safe automatic response to abnormal conditions, including loss of water supply, low tank level, out-of-specification water quality, equipment fault, and power interruption as applicable to the proposed design.

4.7 RELIABILITY, REDUNDANCY AND MAINTAINABILITY

· The system shall be designed for reliable institutional operation. The Offeror shall identify critical components and describe redundancy, standby capacity, bypass capability, or other provisions used to reduce interruption of Type I and Type III water service.

· Distribution pumping shall include redundancy appropriate to maintain required service during a single pump outage.

· Components requiring routine service shall be accessible without unnecessary removal of unrelated equipment.

· The Offeror shall identify recommended critical spare parts and normal lead times for replacement parts and consumables.

4.8 FABRICATION, PIPING AND ELECTRICAL

· Skids, supports, piping, valves, tubing, fittings, seals, and other materials shall be suitable for the operating pressure, chemical exposure, sanitation/disinfection methods, and water purity at their point of use.

· Factory-assembled piping and equipment shall be adequately supported and protected for shipment and installation.

· Electrical equipment and control panels shall comply with applicable codes and standards and be suitable for the installation environment.

· The Offeror shall identify required electrical service, water, drain, ventilation, compressed air/gas, communications, and other utility requirements.

4.9 FACTORY TESTING, STARTUP AND ACCEPTANCE

· Functionally test factory-assembled equipment and controls before shipment and provide certification or test documentation.

· Leak test factory-assembled piping using a method appropriate to the materials and service.

· After installation, provide qualified technical personnel to inspect installation, support startup, calibrate instruments, configure controls, test alarms/interlocks, debug the system, and demonstrate operation.

· Final acceptance requires demonstration that the system can achieve the specified ASTM Type III and ASTM Type I water-quality and distribution performance under the agreed design conditions.

· Correct deficiencies identified during startup or acceptance testing before final acceptance.

4.10 SUBMITTALS AND CLOSEOUT

· Provide a process flow diagram, project-specific P&ID, equipment layout/shop drawings, product data, utility requirements, electrical/controls information, and project-specific sequence of operations for Owner review.

· Equipment layout drawings shall show overall dimensions, operating weights, service clearances, connection locations, and required field interfaces.

· Provide O&M manuals, preventive-maintenance recommendations, spare/consumable parts lists, startup/commissioning report, final as-built documentation, controls information, and warranty documentation at closeout.

4.11 TRAINING, WARRANTY AND SERVICE

· Provide operator and maintenance training covering process overview, normal operation, shutdown/restart, controls/HMI, alarms, troubleshooting, water-quality monitoring, routine maintenance, consumables, safety, and system isolation.

· State the standard system and component warranty terms, exclusions, and conditions required to maintain coverage.

· Identify technical support and field-service capabilities, normal and emergency response processes, nearest qualified service resources, and preventive-maintenance options.

4.12 APPROVED EQUIVALENTS / EXCEPTIONS

These requirements are minimums and are not intended to mandate the basis-of-design manufacturer's proprietary configuration. Alternative equipment, materials, treatment technologies, and design approaches are acceptable when the Offeror demonstrates equal or greater performance, water quality, reliability, compatibility, maintainability, controls integration, serviceability, and safety. All exceptions or deviations shall be clearly identified in the proposal.

image1.jpeg