City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 22, 2025
Agenda Item: 4.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Award Purchase Order for Xylem Flygt Pumps for the Moss Avenue Pump Station
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15302 (Replacement or Reconstruction) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the Procurement Manager to issue a purchase order with Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc. for the purchase of two (2) Flygt pumps for the Public Works Department. This recommended award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section 2.24.250(b) and is for a total amount not to exceed $350,000.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica’s Water Resources Division (WRD) within the Public Works Department provides water and wastewater services to over 93,000 residents and 2,700 commercial customers. On average, the City’s wastewater infrastructure collects and disposes of 14 million gallons of wastewater per day. A majority of the wastewater is conveyed to the City of Los Angeles’ Hyperion Treatment Plant for treatment and final disposal. The wastewater conveyance infrastructure includes the Moss Avenue Pump Station (MAPS) which is a part of the City of Los Angeles’ Amalgamated System where MAPS is owned by the City of Los Angeles and operated by the City of Santa Monica staff. Capital improvement and operational costs at MAPS are fully reimbursed by the City of Los Angeles. To ensure reliable wastewater pumping service at MAPS, staff 2 of 4
recommends replacing two aging pumps by awarding a purchase order to Xylem for two new Xylem NT 3356 pumps in an amount not to exceed $350,000.
Discussion
The City of Santa Monica’s wastewater travels approximately nine miles south along the coast and requires sewer lift stations, such as MAPS, along the way to convey it to the City of Los Angeles’ Hyperion Treatment Plant located in El Segundo. MAPS is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles and the City, where the City is responsible for operating the wastewater pump station and the City of Los Angeles reimburses the City for operation and maintenance costs, including equipment replacement, as well as capital improvement costs.
MAPS was constructed in 2001 and much of the equipment, including the pumps, are original. As a result, the pumps have experienced on-going maintenance issues over the past several years. Since 2023, the WRD has replaced three out of the four pumps with Xylem’s proprietary NT 3356 pump, which uses a patented N impeller to minimize clogging by materials such as rags, baby wipes, and debris that typically plug conventional wastewater pumps. The Xylem NT 3356 pump also provides superior corrosion resistance over the pumps previously installed at MAPS.
To date, WRD has not experienced any issues with the three new Xylem pumps and is seeking to purchase two additional Xylem NT 3356 pumps. The pumps have run for two years and have not been out of service once versus the legacy pumps which went out of service and required maintenance quarterly to unclog the debris at a significant cost and risk of a sewer overflow. The replacement of the final pump would also allow for one program logic needed versus two separate program logics with two types of pumps.
This would reduce possibilities of miscommunications between the pumps as they work in tandem depending on the amount of flow, as one single pump cannot run continuously and requires the others to take over before overheating. One pump would be used to replace the final existing legacy pump at MAPS and the second pump would be used as a backup in the event one of the pumps needed to be removed for servicing.
Vendor Selection
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Exception to Competitive Bidding
Staff recommends Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc to furnish and deliver two (2) Flygt NT 3356 pumps as an exception to competitive bidding per Muni Code 2.24.250 (b).
This purchase meets the City’s exception to competitive bidding criteria (b), as the wastewater pumps are proprietary to Xylem
b. When a good or service is copyrighted, patented or only available from one license holder, including proprietary goods, original equipment manufacturers and/or exclusive distributors.
Environmental Review
The replacement of wastewater pumps and use of temporary pumps at MAPS is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15302 (Replacement and Reconstruction) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Section 15302 exempts Class 2 projects which “consists of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced”. The new wastewater pumps, and use of temporary pumps until the new wastewater pumps are delivered, would replace existing wastewater pumps with essentially the same purpose and capacity, and therefore, the wastewater replacement pumps are categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15302 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
04/25/2023 (Attachment A) Authorization of purchase order with Xylem Water Solutions USA for the purchase of two (2) Flygt pumps
for MAPS.
12/19/2023 (Attachment B) Approval of Change Order to Purchase Order for Xylem Flygt Pumps for the Moss Avenue Pump Station
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Wastewater Fund to award a Purchase Order to Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc for the purchase of two Xylem NT 3356 wastewater pumps at MAPS. The cost of purchasing the two replacement pumps 4 of 4
would be reimbursed by the City of Los Angeles as part of the agreement between the City of Santa Monica and City of Los Angeles to operate MAPS.
Purchase Order Request
FY 2024-25
Request Amount Dept Account # Total Contract Amount
$350,000 51500001.529420 $350,000
Prepared By: Sunny Wang, Water Resources Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. April 25, 2023 Staff Report
B. December 19, 2023 Staff Report
C. Xylem - Oaks Initiative
D. Xylem - Levine Act