OTT Hydromet Water Level Monitoring Equipment

The Northwest Florida Water Management District is pursuing a single-source procurement for specialized water level monitoring equipment from OTT Hydromet, located in Gilchrist County, Florida. The procurement is scheduled for fiscal year 2024-2025, with the solicitation posted on January 9, 2025, and a final submission deadline of January 30, 2025. The specific equipment being acquired includes multiple units of Sutron XLink 500 data loggers with North American 4G LTE modems, SatLink 3 Logger/GOES Transmitters, and OTT/Sutron EcoLog 1000 Logger/Transmitters. The primary objective is to enable remote logging of hydrologic data that can be telemetered to and integrated with Aquarius software for near real-time field condition updates. Key technical requirements include removable modems compatible with provisioned SIM cards, LinkComm software programming capabilities, and real-time data integration functionality. The procurement process has been meticulously reviewed and approved by multiple District officials, including the Program Manager, Bureau Chief, Division Director, Chief of Staff, Deputy Executive Director, and Executive Director.

The procurement is structured as a single-source acquisition, which implies potential restrictions on competitive bidding. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises are noted in the available documentation. The procurement is uniquely tailored to integrate with the District's existing technological infrastructure, with OTT Hydromet equipment selected specifically for its compatibility with the current network and Aquarius software ecosystem. The estimated budget for this procurement is up to $150,000, covering the purchase of multiple monitoring equipment units. The justification for the single-source approach centers on the unique technical compatibility and specialized features of the OTT Hydromet equipment, which cannot be readily substituted with alternative vendors' products. The procurement demonstrates a strategic approach to maintaining technological continuity and ensuring seamless data collection and transmission capabilities for hydrologic monitoring purposes.