Liquid Emulsion Polymer

Advertisement for Bids: Non-Construction
Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant
Advertised starting Thursday, April 9, 2026 for a minimum of two consecutive weeks using VendorNet.
Specifications are available by visiting the district website
at: https://www.madsewer.org/contracting-center/
The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District requests bids for Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs
Wastewater Treatment Plant. Bid documents are linked below. Sealed bids will be accepted until 11:00
AM, CST, on Friday, July 10th, 2026 at the District office, 1610 Moorland Road, Madison, Wisconsin
53713. At this time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. Any questions should be
directed to Jacob Kositzke at (608) 867-3066 or rfp@madsewer.org.
Selected bidders must participate in full-scale performance trials to determine necessary dosage to
thicken incoming sludge to a minimum of 22% total solids (TS) for the centrifuge, 5.8% TS for the DS
GBT, and 6.4% for the WAS GBT. Bench-scale testing with sludge samples will be available to Bidders to
identify one optimal polymer for each process and the estimated doses to trial at full-scale. Notice of
Intent to participate in full-scale performance trials shall be provided to the District by Friday, May 8,
2026. Date of the trial will be scheduled by the District. MSDS and CAS Number of selected polymers
must provided at this time, failure to do so will result in disqualification from this bid.
Full-scale trials will be held between May 25 and June 12, 2026 and results from tests shall be issued by
June 29, 2022. Proposals shall include a unit price for furnishing and delivering liquid polymer to the
treatment plant at the dosages determined by the full-scale performance trial. The Madison
Metropolitan Sewerage District invites and will accept bids for the purchase of Liquid Emulsion Polymer
as specified above. MMSD intends to use the results of this process to award and issue a purchase order
for the winning bid as a lump sum separately for each of the three applications (Centrifuge Polmer,
Digested Sludge (DS) GBT Polymer, Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) GBT Polymer). While these trials will
be conducted at the same time, each application is a separate bid which can be a different polymer. Bids
will be awarded in each area separately so one vendor may or may not be awarded all three contracts.
Bids shall be addressed to the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Attn., Jacob Kositzke, and should
be clearly marked "Sealed Proposal for Liquid Emulsion Polymer."
Only formal written addenda can materially alter the specifications. No verbal statement made by
District employee or anyone else is binding nor shall such a statement be considered an official part of
this public bid. All bid responses and their contents will be public records.
Unless otherwise specified in the bidding documents, the prospective bidders should check the District
website for any addendum 72 hours before the scheduled bid deadline.
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Contract is anticipated to be awarded by August 21, 2026 to start on January 1, 2027 and run through
December 31, 2028. Contract term will be twenty-four (24) months.
Upon completion of the twenty-four (24) month contract term, the District reserves the right to receive
competitive bids from all Bidders involved in the 2026 full-scale polymer trials on a twelve (12) month
basis. The calculated target dose results from the 2026 full-scale polymer trials will be retained by the
District for up to five (5) years. These results, along with an updated unit price bid for the specified trial
polymer, will serve as the Bidder's formal proposal.
The District is federal and state tax exempt. The District reserves the right to reject any or all Bids or to
waive any technicality and accept any Bid which may, in its opinion, be advantageous to the District.
Any questions may be directed to:
Jacob Kositzke
Process and Regulatory Performance Engineer
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
1610 Moorland Rd
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 867-3066
rfp@madsewer.org
Published by authority of the Commissioners of the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District. By
Bradley J. Murphy, Secretary
Bid Documents
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BID FORM A:
Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant - Centrifuge Polymer
Return To: Title: Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Wastewater Treatment Plant
1610 Moorland Rd.
Date Issued: Thursday, April 9th, 2026
Madison WI, 53713
Project manager Jacob Kositzke
Attn: Jacob Kositzke
Telephone: (608) 867-3066
Email: rfp@madsewer.org
BIDDER: Submit Bid by 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Today's Date: April 9th, 2026
Price Per Unit
Specification or Number Total
Base Lump Sum Bid on twenty-four (24) months
with an estimated production of 300 dry tons of
cake sludge per year. Dose will be determined
during onsite performance trial. Multiply [(lb
polymer/dry ton of cake sludge)*(300 dry tons of
cake sludge/year)*(cost in dollars/lb of polymer)]
Lbs of polymer
needed per
year:__________ Chemical Name: _______________________
Lump Sum $ _______________
Company name: ________________________________________
Company address: ________________________________________
Company phone: ________________________________________
Authorization signature: ________________________________________
Printed name: ________________________________________
Addendum # ______________
Bids will be received until 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Date and time received: _________________________
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BID FORM B:
Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant - Digested Sludge GBT Polymer
Return To: Title: Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Wastewater Treatment Plant
1610 Moorland Rd.
Date Issued: Thursday, April 9th, 2026
Madison WI, 53713
Project manager Jacob Kositzke
Attn: Jacob Kositzke
Telephone: (608) 867-3066
Email: rfp@madsewer.org
BIDDER: Submit Bid by 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Today's Date: April 9th, 2026
Price Per Unit
Specification or Number Total
Base Lump Sum Bid on twenty-four (24) months
with an estimated production of 9,125 dry tons of
cake sludge per year. Dose will be determined
during onsite performance trial. Multiply [(lb
polymer/dry ton of cake sludge)*( 9,125 dry tons
of cake sludge/year)*(cost in dollars/lb of
polymer)]
Lbs of polymer
needed per
year:__________ Chemical Name: _______________________
Lump Sum $ _______________
Company name: ________________________________________
Company address: ________________________________________
Company phone: ________________________________________
Authorization signature: ________________________________________
Printed name: ________________________________________
Addendum # ______________
Bids will be received until 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Date and time received: _________________________
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BID FORM C:
Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant - Waste Activated Sludge GBT
Polymer
Return To: Title: Liquid Emulsion Polymer at Nine Springs
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Wastewater Treatment Plant
1610 Moorland Rd.
Date Issued: Thursday, April 9th, 2026
Madison WI, 53713
Project manager Jacob Kositzke
Attn: Jacob Kositzke
Telephone: (608) 867-3066
Email: rfp@madsewer.org
BIDDER: Submit Bid by 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Today's Date: April 9th, 2026
Price Per Unit
Specification or Number Total
Base Lump Sum Bid on twenty-four (24) months
with an estimated production of 8760 dry tons of
cake sludge per year. Dose will be determined
during onsite performance trial. Multiply [(lb
polymer/dry ton of cake sludge)*(8760 dry tons of
cake sludge/year)*(cost in dollars/lb of polymer)]
Lbs of polymer
needed per
year:__________ Chemical Name: _______________________
Lump Sum $ _______________
Company name: ________________________________________
Company address: ________________________________________
Company phone: ________________________________________
Authorization signature: ________________________________________
Printed name: ________________________________________
Addendum # ______________
Bids will be received until 11:00 AM, CDT, on Friday, July 10th, 2026
Date and time received: _________________________
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1.0 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District invites and will accept bids for the purchase of
Liquid Emulsion Polymer as specified above. MMSD intends to use the results of this process to
award and issue a purchase order for the winning bid as a lump sum separately for each of the
three applications (Centrifuge Polmer, Digested Sludge (DS) GBT Polymer, Waste Activated
Sludge (WAS) GBT Polymer). While these trials will be conducted at the same time, each
application is a separate bid which can be a different polymer. Bids will be awarded in each area
separately so one vendor may or may not be awarded all three contracts.
2.0 SPECIFICATIONS - POLYMER SPECIFICATIONS
2.1 Type: Liquid emulsion polymer
2.2 Storage life: 3 months
2.3 pH: <8.5
2.4 Product viscosity (70 degrees F): <35,000 cP
3.0 SPECIFICATIONS - BENCH SCALE TESTING
3.1 Bidders will be responsible for conducting bench tests to determine the products and
estimated doses suitable for each thickening application. Sludge samples and lab space at
Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant shall be made available given at least two
weekdays of notice. All necessary lab analyses shall be conducted by the Bidder. District
staff will not be available to perform any special lab services. If off-site bench testing is
desired, sludge samples may be shipped to a specified location. Bidders shall provide
shipping containers and cover all shipment costs if this option is requested.
3.2 Bidders may test a variety of products during bench-scale testing. However, only one
product may be selected to trial at full-scale for each process. Bidders are invited to
participate in full-scale trials for each of the three process applications but may choose to
participate in only one or two if desired. Proposals, however, shall only be received for the
trials in which the Bidder participated.
3.3 Once the optimal product is determined, Bidders shall submit a Notice of Intent to participate
in full-scale testing. A Notice of Intent is required for each full-scale trial in which the
Bidder intends to participate. The Notice of Intent will include the following:
3.3.1 The process(es) for which the product will be trialed at full-scale (WAS GBT, DS
GBT, or Centrifuge)
3.3.2 Manufacturer's name of product as listed on Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
3.3.3 Active polymer content, pH, and viscosity.
3.3.4 MSDS and all other necessary information for safe and proper handling and storage.
3.4 The District reserves the right to refuse full-scale field testing based on information
provided or non-compliance with these specifications.
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4.0 SPECIFICATIONS - FULL SCALE TRIAL
4.1 For proposals to be considered, all Bidders must participate in a full-scale performance trial.
Date of proposed performance trial will be scheduled by the District. Each trial is expected
to take 3 - 5 hours to complete. All testing will occur between the hours of 7 AM and 5 PM.
Request to reschedule date of test will be considered given at least 48 hours of notice prior
to the start of the original test time.
4.2 Bidders shall furnish and deliver polymer for the trial at no cost to the District. Polymer
shall be delivered at least 24 hours in advance of the trial start time. District staff will begin
using the trial polymer approximately 12 hours prior to the trial start time in order to purge
existing polymer from the system. Given these conditions, Bidders shall provide necessary
amount of polymer for duration of trial. Bidders shall reserve approximately 5 gallons of the
proposed polymer from the trial, should the District request a sample.
4.3 Bidders are responsible for removing excess polymer and containers from site after test is
complete.
4.4 Neat polymer emulsion shall be fed directly into mixing tanks or mixing chamber and made-
up to desired active concentration. Mixing/aging times must fall within the limits imposed
by the capacity of storage and delivery equipment.
4.5 Four unique polymer doses will be tested during the performance trial of each process. Of
these four doses, two shall yield cake samples less than the targeted solids concentration,
and two shall be greater than. The District reserves the right to decline any proposal if
Bidder fails to achieve greater than the targeted solids concentration. Feed sludge and
centrate/filtrate samples will also be collected. Centrate/filtrate samples will be analyzed to
ensure total suspended solids concentrations fall within the acceptable target range.
4.6 Bidders shall request the performance trial to begin following start-up and optimization of
proposed polymer dosing. Each of the four doses will be trialed for 30 minutes. The first 15
minutes will be used to allow operations to come to equilibrium. After this time, a feed
sludge, thickened cake, and centrate/filtrate grab sample will be taken by the District.
Additional cake samples will be collected at 5-minute intervals until the 30 minutes has
elapsed, for a total of four cake samples per dose.
4.7 A representative of the Bidder must be present for the performance trial. Setting of dosage
rate and when to begin the sampling period will come at the request of the representative.
Operational adjustments will be carried out by District staff to the Bidder's satisfaction,
given the adjustments can be made safely and within limits of the equipment. Bidder shall
be responsible for directing polymer dosing operations to achieve the required four doses
as specified above. Polymer dosage will be determined using a calibration column. Polymer
and sludge flow will be recorded once prior to the sampling period, and once during the
sampling period.
4.8 A solids analyzer may be used for guidance in selecting polymer doses. However, solids
measurements made during the trial will be used only for general approximations and will
not be considered when creating a dose response curve for bidding purposes.
4.9 The following operations will be held as constant as possible throughout the performance
trials:
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4.9.1 Feed sludge flow
4.9.2 Belt speed and ramp placement (DS and WAS GBT only)
4.9.3 Operating pressure (centrifuge only)
4.9.4 No dilution water will be added after polymer has been mixed.
4.9.5 Ferric chloride dosing will remain constant (centrifuge and DS GBT only)
4.9.6 Polymer feed system water flow (WAS GBT only)
5.0 SPECIFICATIONS - DETERMINATION OF BID
5.1 Feed sludge, cake, and filtrate/centrate samples will be analyzed by District lab staff. This
lab data, along with the polymer and sludge flow recorded during the performance trial, will
be used to calculate polymer dosage (lb/dry ton solids).
5.2 Cake solids concentration will be plotted against polymer dosage to provide a dose response
graph. The graph will identify the specific dose required to achieve the targeted solids
concentration.
5.3 The dose response graph and calculated target dose will be provided to the Bidder. Bidders
shall apply a unit cost of polymer to determine the cost per dry ton of thickened sludge. This
cost will serve as the Bidder's proposal.
5.4 The District reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or to waive any technicality and
accept any proposal that may, in its opinion, be advantageous to the District.
6.0 SPECIFICATIONS - TESTING PARAMETERS
7.0 CORRESPONDENCE, CLARIFICATIONS AND QUESTIONS
Bidders are expected to raise any questions, exceptions or additions they have concerning the
bid document by 11:00 AM, CDT, on Tuesday, July 9th, 2026. If a bidder discovers any significant
ambiguity, error, conflict, discrepancy, omission, or other deficiency in this request for bid, the
bidder must immediately notify the Project Manager named on the cover page of the issue in
writing and request modification or clarification of the bid document. All inquiries must be
directed to the person indicated on the cover page. E-mail is the preferred method of contact.
8.0 ADDENDUMS
In the event it becomes necessary to clarify any part of this request for bid, or to revise any part
of this RFB, the Project manager will send out an official addendum to all potential bidders.
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Bidders must acknowledge the receipt/review of any addendum(s) on the Bid Form A as
declared on the issued addendum. The Project manager has the sole authority for modifications
of these specifications.
9.0 BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS
All Bidder qualifications in this section are mandatory. Failure to meet a qualification may
disqualify your Bid. However, the Procurement and Contracts Agent reserves the right to waive
any qualification if no Bidder can satisfy that qualification.
9.1 Bidder must be in the business of providing wastewater polymers for at least the past three
(3) years. (See Bidder Response Sheet Attachment C)
9.2 Deliveries must be made within thirty (30) business days after receipt of scheduling notice
from MMSD unless an alternative delivery time is established by mutual agreement of
MMSD and the Supplier.
9.3 Bidder must be able to provide a written guarantee of product consistency throughout the
term of this contract, including assurance that the source of the product will not be
changed during contract term without notification to the District. A material performance
warranty of at least sixty days (60) from receipt of goods is a requirement. Polymer
performance must remain consistent with the results observed during the full-scale trial.
Average dose shall not exceed 15% greater than the proposal dosage. In the event that the
polymer does not meet the expected dosage for one month or more the Supplier must
substitute a product which yields the equivalent promised treatment cost.
9.4 Bidder must agree to terms and conditions listed in the terms and conditions section.
10.0 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
10.1 Estimated quantity of polymer required is based on the average production of biosolids in a
typical year. The quantity of material shown in this proposal is estimated and will be used
solely for the purpose of comparing proposals and is not guaranteed to be an accurate
statement of the actual quantity of polymer to be furnished and delivered under this
agreement. The Supplier will not make any claim against MMSD for damage or loss of
profits in performance of the work because of a difference between the quantity of
material estimated herein and the quantity of polymer actually furnished and delivered.
10.2 No minimum order is specified for this contract.
10.3 Price changes may be proposed by either party no later than one hundred twenty (120)
days prior to contract extension, based upon Supplier price changes which must be
supported with documentation. Should price change not be acceptable to both parties, the
contract will not be extended. Prices may only change at the time of extension.
10.4 Scheduling of individual material deliveries will be initiated via email or phone by MMSD
operations staff and established by mutual agreement of MMSD and the Supplier.
Deliveries must be made within thirty (30) business days after receipt of scheduling notice
from MMSD unless an alternative delivery time is established by mutual agreement of
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MMSD and the Supplier. MMSD reserves the right to terminate the contract in the event
the specified delivery time is not met. At the time of delivery a product sample must be
provided. Delivery costs must be built into the Unit Price of the bid.
10.5 All deliveries will be directed by a purchase order that will be issued annually by MMSD.
This purchase order is to be used for all deliveries scheduled within the same calendar year
(Jan 1 to Dec 31).
10.6 After delivery, the Supplier shall invoice MMSD at contract Unit Price for polymer, which
shall include all costs associated with furnishing and delivering material. Separate invoices
from the shipper, manufacturer, or any other party associated with the delivery will not be
accepted. Payment to the Supplier will be made within thirty (30) days of the invoice date.
10.7 The Supplier shall not subcontract any work without first obtaining the written consent of
MMSD.
10.8 Proposal Unit Price for furnishing and delivering material shall be inclusive of all costs
including materials, production, delivery, loading, unloading, etc. Sales tax should not be
included in the proposal price as MMSD is not subject to State of Wisconsin sales tax in
accordance with Section 77.54(9a)(d) of the Wisconsin Statutes.
10.9 The Supplier must deliver material with equipment compatible with the existing unloading
facilities. Storage tank capacity is 7,000 gallons. Compressed air is not available to assist
with unloading.
10.10 The Supplier will be responsible for equipment and labor costs due to any repairs caused by
delivered material that does not meet specification which causes deterioration to MMSD
owned equipment.
10.11 The Supplier must provide technical assistance with the use of the product as requested by
MMSD.
10.12 For onsite work, prior to contracting, the firms will need to provide a COI meeting the
requirements as outlined here.
10.13 Minimum Contractor's Insurance
10.13.1 The Contractor shall not commence work under this Contract until all insurance
required hereunder has been obtained and such insurance certification has been
reviewed by the Owner. The Contractor shall not allow any Subcontractor to
commence work on his Subcontract until certification for all similar insurance
required for that portion of the Work has been reviewed by the Owner. Review of
the insurance certification by the Owner shall not relieve or decrease the liability of
the Contractor hereunder. The insurance certification shall name as Additional
Insureds the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District.
10.13.2 The Contractor shall obtain, pay for, and maintain during the life of this Contract
such Worker's Compensation and Employer's Liability, Comprehensive General
Liability, Business Automobile Liability, and Umbrella Liability Insurance to protect
the Contractor performing work covered by this Contract from claims for damages
for bodily injury, including accidental death, as well as for claims for property damage
which may arise from operations under this Contract whether such operations be by
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