DATE: August 19, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Water Utilities Department
TITLE: CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR PUBLIC WORKS AGREEMENT FOR SIMPSON MECHANICAL FOR THE PURE WATER OCEANSIDE ADVANCED WATER PURIFICATION FACILITY CHEMICAL PIPING
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council approve Change Order No. 1 to the Public Works Agreement with Simpson Mechanical, in the amount of $108,413, for a total contract amount of $302,395, for construction of the Pure Water Oceanside (PWO) Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) Chemical Piping and authorize the City Engineer to execute the change order.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Pure Water Oceanside is a 4.5 million-gallon-per-day (MGD) Advanced Water Purification Facility that treats recycled water from the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility through ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light advanced oxidation. It was the first operating advanced water purification facility in San Diego County, reaching operation in December 2021. Purified water is conveyed to injection wells and recharges the Mission Basin, where it blends with native groundwater before extraction and additional treatment at the City's Mission Basin Groundwater Purification Facility for distribution to customers.
The AWPF is now in regular production, continuously injecting purified water into the Mission Basin. Reliable operation of the plant's chemical feed systems is required to maintain the water quality parameters necessary for injection and to avoid interruptions to plant operations.
On April 20, 2026, an informal notice to bidders was submitted and closed on July 2, 2026. The work included chemical piping repair consisting of three components: (1) general chemical piping repairs throughout the AWPF, excluding abatement, which is being procured separately by the City under a separate contract; (2) replacement and relocation of the sulfuric acid metering pump skid and repair of the sulfuric acid storage system piping; and (3) installation of splash protection at various chemical injection locations throughout the facility.
Three bids were received, and Simpson Mechanical was the lowest responsive, responsible bidder on the basis of the Total Base Bid (Bid Items 1, 2, and 3). The City reserved the right, in its sole discretion, to award a contract for any one bid item or combination thereof.
Simpson Mechanical submitted the lowest Total Base Bid at $302,395, which exceeds $220,000, the statutory limit for award by informal bidding procedures under California Public Contract Code Section 22032(b).
Consistent with the reservation of rights disclosed in the Bid Schedule, the City awarded Simpson Mechanical an informal contract for Bid Items 1 and 3, chemical piping repairs and splash protection at chemical injection locations, for a combined price of $193,982, within the informal bidding threshold. Bid Item 2, sulfuric acid system leak repairs, was excluded from the original Agreement.
Due to the critical role of the sulfuric acid system in preventing scaling and fouling of reverse osmosis membranes and in stabilizing finished water prior to injection, Change Order No. 1 adds Bid Item 2 to the Agreement, in the amount of $108,413 for replacement of the sulfuric acid pump skid and repair of the sulfuric acid storage system piping. This brings the total contract amount to $302,395 and will allow the plant to operate closer to its design capacity.
FISCAL IMPACT
The original contract was awarded via the informal bid process by the City Engineer at contract total of $193,982, which is below the statutory limit for informal bids. This change order, in the amount of $108,413, will bring the total revised contract amount to $302,395, necessitating City Council Approval.
The project will be funded by the Pure Water Oceanside, Phase 2 project account, 908142318715.5703.10600, which will have a remaining balance of $383,863 after the original agreement is accounted for; therefore, sufficient funds are available for this change order.
Table 1 PWO ADVANCED WATER PURIFICATION CHEMICAL PIPING
|
Description |
Account Number |
Amount Required |
Available Balance |
|
Change Order No. 1 (This request) |
908142318715.5703.10600 |
$108,413 |
$383,863 |
Funding for this Project comes from developer fees in the Water Expansion fund, 715.
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
The Utilities Commission will receive an update on this project at the regularly scheduled meeting on September 15, 2026.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
The referenced documents have been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
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Prepared by: Mabel Uyeda, Water Engineering Manager
Reviewed by: Frederick Mayo, Water Utilities Director
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Change Order
2. PWA