Watermain Cleaning

Central Highland Regional Council invites submissions from competent contractors to supply all material, plant, equipment and labour to perform internal cleaning of potable water supply pipelines situated in Duaringa, Dingo and possibly Emerald and Blackwater, Central Queensland.

The scope of work is set out in Attachment A:

Water Utilities Project General Specification (ECM_1890316_v6)

Water Utilities Water Main Cleaning Technical Specification (ECM_1890318_v11)

And

Extent of Works (Refer Attachment B).

Central Highlands Regional Council reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to award all, part of or none of the works described within this RFQ.

The other evaluation criteria that will be used to evaluate offers are:

1. Conformance to requirements

2. Capability and Experience

3. Ability to meet the timeframes

4. Project Methodology

5. Cost and Value for Money

6. Development of Competitive Local Business and Industry

Purpose

1. The purpose of the Specification is to detail the minimum requirements for water main cleaning of existing Central Highlands Regional Council water mains.

2. This Specification must be read in conjunction with the Council Goods and Services Contract and the Water Utilities – General Specification which outlines all general requirements for works being conducted for the Utilities Department on utilities infrastructure.

3. The Contractor must adhere to these requirements unless agreed otherwise in writing by Council during acceptance of the offer.

Scope

1. The services described in this Specification are referred to as the Works in this Specification.

2. This Specification provides the requirements for:

3. Customer and Council Notifications at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of pipe cleaning

4. Performing water main cleaning

5. Provide report and photo’s

6. Disposal of waste

7. Requirements for individual sections of water pipe mains to be cleaned will be provided in the Procurement Documentation.

Relevant Contract

1. The Works will be performed under Council’s Goods and Services Contract.

2. All work shall be completed in accordance with the Goods and Services Contract as well as the requirements outlined in the Water Utilities – General Specification and this Water Utilities – Water Main Cleaning Specification.

Scope of Work for Contractor

1. The Works comprise the supply of all material, plant, equipment and labour to perform internal cleaning of potable water supply pipelines located within the Central Highlands Regional Council.

2. Council operates potable water supply schemes in the towns of Emerald, Blackwater, Comet, Blackwater, Bluff, Dingo, Duaringa, Sapphire, Anakie, Capella, Tieri, Springsure and Rolleston.

3. The specific water main pipelines included in the scope of work are provided in Attachment B and will be described as the site.

4. The Contractor must:

a. Review all information made available by Council relating to the water mains to be cleaned.

b. Identify all isolation points and hydrants that will be accessed for cleaning of the mains.

c. Locate all pipes and access points and identify any impediments to conducting the Works and notify the Project Manager as soon as possible.

d. Disinfection of all equipment, materials or personnel coming into contact with the potable water supply.

e. Use pipe cleaning methods that result in minimal disruption to water supply or minimal water loss suitable for cleaning DI, CI, AC, uPVC and Poly of various diameters ranging from 63mm diameter to 300mm diameter. Council prefers methods that do not require water shut-off or depressurisation and does not cause water hammer.

f. Use pipe cleaning devices and equipment rated for operation under water supply pressures of at least 360kPa and up to 1200kPa and suitably sized for the mains being cleaned.

g. Use calibrated instruments for measuring turbidity and chlorine residual.

h. Allow in the rate for as many passes up and down the pipe conduit as required to satisfactorily clean the line. Multiple passes will not be paid as an extra or classed as additional meters for payment.

i. Supply the mains cleaning methodology to the Project Manager for review fourteen (14) business days prior to cleaning of nominated water supply mains.

j. Where super-chlorination is used, removal of super-chlorination before bringing the mains back into service.

k. Measurement, recording and reporting of water quality data pre and post clean of each section.

l. All solids material dislodged from the mains must be collected, removed and disposed of to a landfill facility, including payment of all associated fees.

m. Site restoration, cleanup and disestablishment.

5. The Contractor acknowledges that some of the pipework may be in a state of advanced deterioration and techniques used to clean the mains must not adversely affect the structural integrity of the water mains. Works must cease immediately if the Contractor becomes aware of an issue and the Council must be notified immediately.

6. The Contractor is to consider that some sites can be difficult to access and may require a remote setup to enable the completion of cleaning.

Works to be carried out by Council

The Council must:

1. Provide pipe main details in GIS format or hard copy plans where GIS is not available.

2. Provide all water free of charge to the contractor.

3. Provision of a spreadsheet with asset ID’s and information to be completed by the Contractor or access into Council’s Technology One Platform that enables electronic entry of the required data into a work order.

Project Specific Quality Management

1. Quality Inspection and Hold Points as per the General Technical Specification and including the following additional Inspection, Hold or Witness Points:

Job Description Inspection / Witness / Hold Point

- Customer notifications in the form of letterbox drops notification forty-eight (48) hours prior to disruption to service: Hold Point

- Isolation Test and Confirmation of isolations workings: Hold Point

- Pre-cleaning inspection: Hold Point

- Traffic Management: Hold Point

- Pipe cleaning devices and equipment disinfected before work starts: Hold Point

- Water quality performed post-cleaning: Hold Point

- Post-cleaning Inspection: Hold Point

Water Supply

1. Water is available for the purposes of this contract from the Council hydrants at no charge to the Contractor for water used.

2. The Contractor may supply its own Council approved metered standpipe fitted with a reduced pressure zone (RPZ) backflow device or may hire a standpipe and RPZ backflow prevention valve from the Council for use with this Contract. The RPZ valve is to be fitted whenever the standpipe is in use.

3. Council may direct where standpipes are to be affixed.

4. The Contractor is to take all due care whilst using standpipes to ensure that no damage is done to the hydrant or main.

5. The cost of repairing any damage to any of Council’s assets shall be borne by the Contractor.

Access to Water Mains

1. Where suitable for the Contractor’s cleaning method, the preferred access to the water main for cleaning is to use selected hydrants and any other existing fixture on the water main.

2. Where removal of a section of pipe is required to access the water main, after isolation of the water main, the Contractor shall remove a section of pipe at one or both ends of the length of water main to be cleaned. The Contractor shall make neat, perpendicular cuts in the water main for removal and the length of pipe removed shall be the minimum required to efficiently carry out the work.

3. The Contractor shall ensure that silt, debris, runoff, etc is prevented from entering water mains.

4. At the completion of cleaning the Contractor shall reinstate the water main in accordance with the Council’s standard specifications and practices to the satisfaction of Council.

Approved Mains Cleaning Methods

1. The contractor is required to supply all equipment required to complete the Works required under the Scope of Works.

2. The Contractor shall ensure that all equipment provided for cleaning of potable water mains are dedicated for potable water works only.

NO-DES

1. Flushing of pipelines by connecting one hydrant to the NO-DES filtering system inlet point and connecting to the second hydrant from NO-DES outlet point.

2. Both hydrants are opened and water is filtered and circulated through the NO-DES unit with a small amount of chlorine added during the process.

Air-Scouring

1. Controlled injection of filtered compressed air which is propelled at a high velocity through the main to remove sediment, biofilm and soft mineral scale.

2. Air in injected as continuous slugs of discrete air to water flow.

3. Water is discharged at a hydrant and removed sediment is captured in an air-scour bag.

Flushing and Swabbing

1. Flushing of pipelines shall be carried out in accordance with CMDG D11.

Pigging or Swabbing

1. Swabbing of pipelines using foam swabs in accordance with WSA03-2011 or inserting ‘pigs’ and propelling them through the pipeline, usually by water flow.

2. Ice-pigging may be used in situations where the pipelines are heavily corroded and have significant build-up or iron or manganese.

Water jetting

1. Water jetting from mobile pressurised water jet equipment can be used to restore the internal wall of the pipe to as smooth a state as is practical without causing structural damage to the pipe.

2. Equipment and methods must not cause any damage to the pipe mains.

Other Cleaning Methods

1. Other cleaning methods may be used subject to approval by Council. Any proposed cleaning method shall not cause any damage to the internal surface of the existing water mains and must be effective in removing sediment, biofilm, debris and any other particular build-up such as scale.

Stuck Equipment

1. If any of the Contractor's equipment becomes stuck in a conduit, such that it cannot be removed without excavation, the Contractor is to notify Council immediately upon becoming aware of the problem.

2. The Contractor must not attempt to recover the equipment or continue inspections without receiving confirmation to do so by Council. The Contractor shall clearly identify the nature of equipment and materials that have been lost and identify the possible damage that they may cause to the water supply system.

3. The Contractor shall be responsible for removal of any trapped equipment and shall carry all risks and bear all costs associated with the removal of the equipment. The Contractor is permitted to use its own or sub-contracted resources for excavation and breaking into the water main to retrieve equipment.

4. Any water main damaged by this operation is to be reinstated to the satisfaction of Council and must be inspected by the Council representative prior to being backfilled. The Contractor shall restore all surfaces to the satisfaction of Council.

Reporting

1. The Contractor shall provide a written report on completion of the works detailing the extent of the work completed

and identify the lines with the most sediment.

2. Reporting on water quality information using the Council asset ID’s pre and post cleaning and anything else observed during the cleaning activity. The following data must be captured in a spreadsheet for each pipe section cleaned. Council can supply this as a spreadsheet or can provide access (and training) to use our work system to capture at a minimum:

a. Flush number

b. Main material

c. Main size

d. Distance flushed (m)

e. Total flush time (minutes)

f. Maximum Inlet Turbidity (NTU)

g. Final Inlet Turbidity (NTU)

h. Target chlorine residual (mg/L)

i. System chlorine residual (start)

j. System chlorine residual (end)

k. Target flow (L/s)

l. Actual Flow (L/s)

m. System pressure start flush (kPa)

n. System pressure end flush (kPa)

o. Water quantity circulated (L)

p. Water quantity discharged (L)

q. Valves operated

r. Number of filter bags changed

s. Weight (kg) of sediment removed

t. Pipe clean rating – from 0 (clean) to 5 (very dirty)

u. Comments

v. Provide any asset photo’s if anything unusual is noted in the comments.

Disposal of Waste

1. All solid material dislodged from the water main during cleaning shall be prevented from passing to the downstream water main and shall be collected, removed and disposed of by the Contractor.

2. The Contractor is responsible for disposal of all waste material removed from the water mains during cleaning operations.

3. Disposal of this waste material shall comply with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act and all other relevant legislation.

4. All waste material must be disposed of to a landfill or suitable waste facility that will accept the type of waste generated at the Contractors expense.