Potable Water Testing - Chippewa National Forest

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service is seeking potable water testing services for the Chippewa National Forest through an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract spanning five ordering periods from September 2025 to October 2029. The contractor will perform Total Coliform and E. coli testing on water samples collected from 27 water systems across the forest, with testing occurring monthly between April and October each year. Amendment #1, issued on August 14, 2025, removed the requirement for primary and secondary contaminant analysis from the original scope, simplifying the work to focus solely on bacterial testing. Contractors must hold Minnesota state laboratory certification and provide comprehensive services including sterile sample bottles, lab delivery, analysis reporting within 24 hours, and immediate notification of positive bacterial samples. The government will evaluate proposals based on technical capability, price, and past performance, with questions accepted until August 13, 2025, and proposals due by August 20, 2025.

This solicitation is set aside exclusively for small businesses under NAICS code 541380 (Testing Laboratories and Services) with a size standard of $19 million in annual receipts. The contract encompasses a total estimated quantity of 914 water sample analyses across all five ordering periods, beginning with 54 samples in the initial period and 220 samples in each subsequent period. Performance will occur across multiple locations in Minnesota, including the Chippewa National Forest offices in Cass Lake, Blackduck, Deer River, and Walker, with the contractor required to establish local sample drop-off locations in the Cass Lake and Deer River areas. The work covers three Minnesota counties: Beltrami, Itasca, and Cass, and requires the contractor to support overnight delivery services and provide pre-paid return mailing labels. No incumbent contractor or specific budget range is identified in the solicitation documents.