OXFORD — Engineers from Woodard and Curran are still reviewing packages from two companies bidding to provide equipment for the town’s sewage treatment facility. 

Last month, the town opened bids from three companies to provide the specialized membrane systems used for the state-of-the-art plant planned at the Welchville Dam. The base numbers in the bids, however, did not capture the actual costs of the competing systems. 

GE Water and Process Technology of Oakville, Ontario, submitted the highest bid of $1,422,950. The second highest was from Koch Membranes Systems of Rockland, Mass., for $1,281,950; Ovivo USA of Austin, Texas, bid $1,248,763.

In a Nov. 5 memo to the town, Woodard and Curran Vice President Brent Bridges said the company analyzed the three bids, taking into account the base capital costs as well as the cost to run and maintain the treatment plant systems.

The plant proposed by the town uses a series of fine screens to slough off solids in the wastewater while sanitizing it with ultraviolet light, instead of conventional chemicals.

According to Bridges, even though Ovivo’s base bid was the lowest in terms of initial cost, it was actually more expensive under the analysis for both pumped permeate and gravity permeate systems. 

GE Water and Process Technologies membrane system is around $400,000 less expensive that the products provided by Ovivo, according to Bridges. 

For a pumped permeate system, the total life cycle cost of GE’s bid is estimated at $2,461,572, compared to Ovivo’s $2,876,922. The cost of a gravity permeate system is similar, with GE’s projected life cycle cost at $2,467,047 against Ovivo’s $2,852,540. 

“In terms of life cycle cost comparison, these two systems are close and thus the non-cost factors in each system will require careful consideration to ensure the most robust system is chosen which will best meet the needs of the town,” Bridges said in the memo. 

Woodard and Curran’s recommendation of a vendor and system for the project is expected later this month.

The town and Woodard and Curran are also moving forward with its application for a discharge permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. The permit will allow it to pump up to 251,000 gallons of treated water into the Little Androscoggin River per day. 

There were no comments or concerns voiced during a public hearing at the Town Office last Thursday on the DEP application. 

Groundbreaking on the new sewer plant is expected this fall.

pmcguire@sunjournal.com