Water Quality Profilers

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
RFP No. 275-26
Water Quality Profilers
Purchasing Analyst of Record: Joshua Houston
Joshua.Houston@thorntonco.gov
City Hall - 2nd Floor
Contracts and Purchasing Division
9500 Civic Center Drive
Thornton, CO 80229-4326
Main Phone: (303) 538-7325

RFP No. 275-26
Water Quality Profiler
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.1 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:............................................................................................... 4
A.2 PURCHASING ANALYST OF RECORD: ....................................................................... 4
A.3 GENERAL SUMMARY OF PROCUREMENT NEEDS: .................................................. 4
B.1 CURRENT STATE: ......................................................................................................... 5
B.2 SCOPE OF WORK: ......................................................................................................... 5
B.3 F.O.B. POINT: ................................................................................................................. 8
B.4 DELIVERY CONSIDERATIONS: .................................................................................... 8
B.5 WARRANTY .................................................................................................................... 8
B.6 SOFTWARE - TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE: ................................. 8
B.7 SOFTWARE - INTERFACE/INTEGRATION POINTS: ................................................... 9
B.8 SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION:` ....................................................................................... 9
B.9 PURCHASE ORDER: ..................................................................................................... 9
B.10 INVOICING REQUIREMENTS: ..................................................................................... 9
B.11 PALLET CHARGE: ..................................................................................................... 10
B.12 VENDOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: ............................................................ 10
B.13 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING: ................................................................................ 10
C.1 INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANSWERING QUESTIONS: ..................................................... 11
C.2 PROPOSAL QUESTIONS: ........................................................................................... 11
C.3 THORNTON CYBERSECURITY QUESTIONS: ............................................................ 11
D.1 PRICING INFORMATION: ............................................................................................ 12
D.2 VENDOR PRICING SUBMITTAL: ................................................................................. 12
D.3 BEST AND FINAL OFFER: ........................................................................................... 12
D.4 VENDOR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS: ................................................................. 12
D.5 PRICING: ....................................................................................................................... 13
D.6 PROPOSAL ITEMS: ..................................................................................................... 13
D.7 FINANCING/ADVANCE PAYMENTS: .......................................................................... 14
E.1 PROPOSAL POSTED LOCATIONS: ............................................................................ 15

RFP No. 275-26 RFP No. <Insert RFP No.>
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E.2 QUESTIONS: ................................................................................................................. 15
E.3 ADDENDA: .................................................................................................................... 15
E.4 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: .................................................................................. 15
E.5 DOCUMENTS FOR FINAL VENDOR SUBMISSION: ................................................... 16
E.6 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION............................................... 17
E.7 LATE PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS: ............................................................................. 18
E.8 AWARDS: ...................................................................................................................... 18
E.9 ACCEPTANCE PERIOD: .............................................................................................. 18
E.10 EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS: ............................................................................... 18
E.11 DEMONSTRATIONS AND INTERVIEWS: .................................................................. 19
E.12 EVALUATION CRITERIA: ........................................................................................... 19
E.13 VENDOR COMMITMENT STATEMENT: .................................................................... 20
E.14 POST AWARD PURCHASE ORDER: ........................................................................ 20
E.15 PURCHASE ORDER TERMS AND CONDITIONS: .................................................... 20
E.16 STANDARD PROPOSAL CONSIDERATIONS: ......................................................... 21
F.1 ACCEPTANCE AND ADDENDA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM: .............................. 22
F.2 REFERENCES AND AUTHORIZATION AND RELEASE FORM: ................................ 23
F.3 DISCLOSURE OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A.I.) USAGE FORM:
............................................................................................................................................. 24
G.1 PURCHASING MANAGER FORM: .............................................................................. 25
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RFP No. 275-26 RFP No. <Insert RFP No.>
Water Quality Profiler
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SCHEDULE, PURCHASING ANALYST OF RECORD, AND GENERAL
SUMMARY OF NEEDS
A.1 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
The following is a list of important items, dates, and times that pertain to this solicitation. All
times listed below are in reference to the local Thornton, Colorado time.
Solicitation Item Date Time
RFP Issued 07/28/2026
Deadline to Submit Questions 08/05/2026 4:30 P.M.
Thornton's Response to Written Questions 08/06/2026
Proposal Due Date 08/18/2026 4:30 P.M.
Award Date (tentative) 08/27/2026
A.2 PURCHASING ANALYST OF RECORD:
The Purchasing Analyst of Record for this solicitation will be the central point of contact
throughout the solicitation process. All questions and inquiries must be submitted in writing via
direct email to the Purchasing Analyst. No communication is to be directed to any other
Thornton personnel.
The Purchasing Analyst of Record's contact information is as follows:
Name: Joshua Houston
Title: Senior Purchasing Analyst
Email: Joshua.Houston@thorntonco.gov
A.3 GENERAL SUMMARY OF PROCUREMENT NEEDS:
The City of Thornton, Colorado (hereafter, "Thornton"), is seeking Proposals from interested
firms for the purchase of one (1) or two (2) water quality profilers.
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RFP No. 275-26 RFP No. <Insert RFP No.>
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CURRENT STATE, SCOPE OF WORK, AND SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
B.1 CURRENT STATE:
Thornton is a home-rule city in Adams County, Colorado, located ten (10) miles northeast of
Denver. Thornton utilizes surface sources for its drinking water for its over 200,000 residents
and customers. The reservoirs of interest for this project have frequent water quality issues
that arise due to the stratification of the water body and subsequent internal loading. Presently,
Thornton measures three (3) depths once a week in these reservoirs, which is insufficient for
our needs. To better understand and monitor changing water quality parameters, Thornton is
seeking a water quality profiler(s) to measure parameters at depth.
B.2 SCOPE OF WORK:
Thornton intends to purchase one (1) or potentially up to two (2) water quality profilers. The
priority reservoir for this project is East Gravel Lakes Reservoir #4 (hereafter, "EGL #4"), which
is located to the southwest of the intersection of E 88th Avenue and Dahlia Street in Thornton.
The second, optional reservoir for this project is West Gravel Lakes Reservoir #2 (hereafter,
"WGL #2"), which is located across the South Platte River from and west of EGL #4, and south
of the intersection of E 88th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Thornton. See Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Location of WGL #2 and EGL #4.
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Each reservoir experiences moderate wind (and subsequent waves) due to its exposed nature.
Each reservoir has, on occasion, frozen over completely during the winter, although this has
not happened in several years. Ice buildup around the shore is common.
The decision to purchase one or two water quality profilers is at Thornton's sole discretion and
influenced significantly by the available budget for this project compared to the prices
proposed by Vendors. Each reservoir would receive one installed water quality profiler.
Thornton intends to use data from the new water quality profiler(s) to support decisions related
to water treatment and water intake locations from the reservoirs to Thorton's water treatment
plants.
Thornton anticipates making one or two awards from this solicitation under one of the following
scenarios: (1) one award to one Vendor for EGL #4; (b) one award to one Vendor for both EGL
#4 and WGL #2; or (c) potentially one award to one Vendor for EGL #4 and a second award to
a separate Vendor for WGL #2.
The awarded Vendor(s) will perform the following tasks for each location awarded (EGL #4
and/or WGL #2):
a. Furnish one (1) water quality profiler platform with the following physical characteristics:
1. Mobile platform that floats on the water surface and is towable by small boat.
2. Anchoring system to keep system in place in a reservoir with fluctuating depths
up to 40 ft. The reservoir typically fluctuates up to 10 ft in depth, with a maximum
depth of 40 ft.
3. Corrosion resistant frame and flotation platform.
4. Remote control of profiling system, with winch to lower and raise the profiler
cable.
5. Housing of control systems located above water level so that float does not need
to be removed from lake for service.
6. Solar powered with battery backup to ensure continuous operation.
7. All parts to be durable, non-corrosive materials and per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) free where possible.
b. Furnish two (2) sondes1 with the following characteristics and capabilities:
1. At minimum, capable of monitoring the following:
i. Dissolved Oxygen.
ii. Chlorophyll-a.
iii. Phycocyanin/phycoerythrin.
iv. pH.
v. Temperature.
vi. Turbidity.
vii. Conductivity.
viii. Depth.
1 Thornton intends to rotate use of the two (2) sondes for a single platform.
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2. Optionally, capable of monitoring the following:
i. Nutrients (Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen).
ii. Ortho-Phosphate.
iii. Fluorescent Dissolved Organic Matter (fDOM).
iv. Total Suspended Solids (TSS).
v. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS).
3. Optionally, collect meteorological data to include:
i. Anemometer.
ii. Barometer.
iii. Thermometer.
iv. Pyranometer.
4. Sondes must be self-cleaning.
5. Sondes must be capable of vertical profiling in the up or down direction up to 40
ft in 1-ft vertical increments.
c. Furnish one (1) datalogger with the following characteristics and capabilities:
1. Uploads data to Vendor's server, with a minimum frequency of once per day.
Preferred upload frequency is real-time or close to real-time.
2. Remote communication via satellite, Global System for Mobile Communications
(GSM), or 4G/5G networks.
3. Two-way communication.
4. Internal memory capable of storing at least 100,000 data points.
d. Provide access to a web application with the following capabilities:
1. Data hosted on the Vendor's server and accessible to the customer through a
web application using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment model.
2. Web application provides access to full water quality monitoring data, including
historical data. Data is kept secured and confidential.
3. Data on web application is exportable in common formats (e.g., .xlsx).
i. All data hosted shall be the property of Thornton with Thornton retaining
the ability to download the data free of any charges at any time.
e. Provide installation of water quality profiler system, to include positioning the profiler in
the center of the reservoir by small boat, anchoring the system, and all required
programming. See Appendix No. 1 for a detailed map of EGL #4 and Appendix No. 2
for a detailed map of WGL #2.
f. After installation, provide operator-level training on the water quality profiler system and
associated software.
g. Provide ongoing maintenance and support services, including:
1. Periodic service of sondes.
2. Annual winterization of the water quality profiler system, if required and if this
must be performed by the awarded Vendor.
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B.3 F.O.B. POINT:
Prices quoted shall be F.O.B. Destination and delivered and installed to EGL #4 and/or WGL
#2.
All software maintenance licenses and renewals are delivered to Thornton's Information
Technology Division, located at:
Thornton City Hall
9500 Civic Center Drive
Thornton, CO 80229
Attention: Information Technology Division
B.4 DELIVERY CONSIDERATIONS:
Delivery and installation are required by October 23, 2026.
B.5 WARRANTY
Awarded Vendor shall provide the standard commercial warranty for the water quality profiler
system components.
Awarded Vendor shall also provide a minimum of one-year labor/workmanship warranty on the
installation. The awarded Vendor shall correct, at no cost to Thornton, any installation defects
discovered during the one (1) year warranty period. The awarded Vendor shall perform any
registration or other administrative requirements on Thornton's behalf necessary to activate
these warranties and provide such documentation to Thornton after installation.
B.6 SOFTWARE - TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE:
In 2021, the Colorado House of Representative passed House Bill 21-1110, which modified
and created new guidelines on technology accessibility requirements for all technology items
purchased and used by all Colorado municipalities, such as Thornton. These guidelines have
been adopted as part of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act ("CADA") and currently require
all technology products to meet or exceed the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines
("WCAG") standards. The State of Colorado has put their Office of Information and Technology
("OIT") in charge of developing and distributing the standards for this compliance.
The initial information that has been sent out has stated that all software used by public entities
must be at least compliant and in-line with federal ADA and Colorado CADA standards, no
matter if the software is external facing to the public or internal facing to the entity. As part of
the set of proposal questions that Vendors will be answering, there is a question within this set
that will ask if your firm's solution meets or exceeds these standards.
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Proposing Vendors are to note that Thornton does not govern or have oversight over these
requirements. For more information on the CADA and WCAG guidelines, please follow this
hyperlink to the State of Colorado's Office of Information Technology website:
https://oit.colorado.gov/hb21-1110-faq
B.7 SOFTWARE - INTERFACE/INTEGRATION POINTS:
Thornton does not anticipate requiring the awarded Vendor's software solution to
interface/integrate into any known 3rd party existing platforms that Thornton utilizes. Thornton
intends to use the software as a standalone system, with the option to export data in common
formats (e.g., xlsx).
B.8 SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION:`
Upon completion of the installation of the water quality profiler(s), the awarded Vendor shall
provide Thornton with a complete systems documentation package. The documentation
package in general shall include, but is not limited to: Any applicable drawings, schematics,
software and hardware submittals, detailed functional and interface descriptions, user/operator
manuals, software programming manuals and procedures and all other required
documentation related to the Vendor's proposed solution. The documentation package shall
address all hardware and software provided under the Project and shall be subject to review
and approval by the Thornton Technology Project Manager before final system acceptance.
B.9 PURCHASE ORDER:
Thornton intends to issue a purchase order to the awarded Vendor for this Project on or soon
after the Award Date indicated in the Schedule of Events. The Vendor shall not perform any
work until a purchase order is issued by Thornton.
B.10 INVOICING REQUIREMENTS:
Thornton's Accounts Payable Division is the only division within Thornton that issues payments
to Vendors whom have submitted invoices. Thornton only issues payments from invoices and
will not issue payments to Vendors off of quotes.
The Vendor must be capable of providing invoices that include the following details:
* Invoice number;
* Invoice date;
* Itemized charges, including unit of measurement;
* Total charge;
* Service date(s) or service period;
* Delivery location (Building name and address).
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Thornton's standard payment terms are net thirty (30) Calendar Days after receipt of an
invoice. All invoices submitted shall be emailed to AP.Invoices@ThorntonCO.gov. In lieu of
email, physical copies may be submitted to City of Thornton - Accounts Payable, 9500 Civic
Center Drive, Thornton, CO 80229-4326. Invoices sent to anyone other than Accounts Payable
are not considered to be properly submitted and will not be paid until they are properly
submitted.
B.11 PALLET CHARGE:
Any pallets supplied shall be non-returnable, no deposit.
B.12 VENDOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
Thornton may administer a Vendor performance management program as part of this proposal
and resulting agreement. The purpose of this program is to create a method for documenting
and advising Thornton of exceptional performance or any problems related to the purchased
goods and services.
B.13 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING:
Thornton encourages the proper use of cooperative purchasing and reserves the right to make
results of this solicitation available to other governmental agencies seeking like equipment,
goods, or services. Other agencies using this solicitation must do so according to regulations
established by their individual organizations and accept sole responsibility for its use. The
terms and conditions of any resulting transaction shall be exclusively between the buyer and
the seller. Buyers and sellers from other municipalities and political subdivisions using this
solicitation in a cooperative or "piggy-back" fashion, agree to defend and hold harmless
Thornton from any dispute or action arising from its use.
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