Request for Proposals for Water Risk Assessment Analysis

The City of Arlington, Texas, through Arlington Water Utilities (AWU), is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP 26-0217) for a machine learning-based water risk assessment analysis solution with a posted date of May 6, 2026, and a proposal due date of June 4, 2026. The procurement seeks a comprehensive system capable of assessing and prioritizing risk exposure across AWU's water main network, which encompasses approximately 1,474 miles of water mains, 10,363 fire hydrants, and 17,166 main isolation valves constructed from various materials including asbestos cement, cast iron, ductile iron, PVC, HDPE, and PCCP. The solution must develop predictive models estimating Likelihood of Failure (LoF), Consequence of Failure (CoF), and Total Risk (TR) for every water main pipe segment, integrate with existing GIS and asset management systems, incorporate historical break data and geohazard variables, and perform temporal validation to confirm model accuracy over one to two year periods. Deliverables include initial solution licensing, implementation schedules, licensing terms, ongoing support details, renewal costs for two additional one-year terms, and comprehensive documentation of comparable project examples with at least five references (three from municipal or state clients). Proposals will be evaluated on a 100-point weighted scale comprising Price (25 points), Experience and Qualifications of Firm (30 points including staff credentials, resumes, certifications, Texas utility experience, and professional references), and Functionality (45 points addressing LoF probability calculations, time-adjusted LoF, city-specific CoF and consequence of repair data incorporation, adjustable weighting factors, and accuracy claims). The initial contract term is one year from the award date with options to renew for two additional one-year periods by mutual written consent, and proposers must submit responses electronically through the City's Bonfire platform at https://arlingtontx.bonfirehub.com/projects; paper submissions in sealed, labeled envelopes are accepted but strongly discouraged, and late proposals will not be accepted.

The RFP documents do not specify set-aside designations or restrictions limiting responses to particular organization types, disadvantaged enterprises, women-owned businesses, or minority-owned businesses, indicating that all qualified vendors are eligible to respond. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the solicitation materials. The solution must integrate with Arlington Water Utilities' existing GIS and asset management systems and comply with stringent cloud service requirements including GovRAMP Core Certification or TX-RAMP Level 2 Certification, twenty-four-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week service availability, and mandatory data storage exclusively within continental United States data centers. All City data remains the exclusive property of the City, and contractors must comply with federal, state, and local privacy and security regulations, maintain daily backups to offsite facilities, and provide all City data in machine-readable format within fifteen days of contract termination at no cost. The RFP does not explicitly state a budget range or award value; however, the cost proposal structure indicates pricing should include initial licensing costs with detailed service breakdowns, renewal costs for two additional one-year terms, and ongoing support service pricing, with the resulting contract structured as a not-to-exceed agreement based on submitted prices and subject to negotiations during extension periods upon 180 days' notice.