Water Quality Surveillance and Response System

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), Maryland is soliciting sealed responses for a Water Quality Surveillance and Response System consultant contract with responses due October 5, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. via the WSSC eProcurement Portal. The consultant must hold a minimum of five years of experience performing water process engineering and water quality services projects within the United States. WSSC's Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Small Local Business Enterprise (SLBE) program requirements apply; consultants must comply with reporting subcontractor payments through WSSC's Web-Based Compliance System within 30 days of receipt of payment and may not subcontract work exceeding 49 percent of the contract value.

The scope encompasses technical expertise to review and enhance WSSC's drinking water contamination preparedness, surveillance, and response programs under the EPA's Surveillance and Response System framework. Deliverables include contaminant prioritization and risk assessment, evaluation and recommendation of monitoring technologies and instrumentation, development and improvement of standard operating procedures, support for training and preparedness exercises for the Contamination Rapid Response Team, and enhancement of online water quality monitoring, customer complaint surveillance, laboratory confirmation capabilities, and consequence management procedures. Work will be performed on a task order basis, with individual assignments defining scope, schedule, staffing requirements, and compensation.

The required staffing structure spans executive-level positions (15–20 years of experience with PE credentials), senior roles (8–12 years), mid-level positions (5–7 years), and entry-level roles (0–5 years), with technical support and administrative personnel as needed. Consultants must maintain comprehensive insurance including workers' compensation, commercial general liability, business auto liability, umbrella liability, pollution liability, errors and omissions liability, and cyber liability, with a $1,000,000 single limit and WSSC named as additional insured.

Evaluation criteria are key personnel (35 percent), firm's experience (30 percent), technical approach (30 percent), and pricing (5 percent). A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting was held September 15, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.; questions were due September 16, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. WSSC reserves the right to establish a competitive range, shortlist offerors, conduct discussions, and request best and final offers. Offerors must register in WSSC's Supplier Portal System and maintain an active supplier profile prior to proposal submission.