Just when I thought the Big Three mindset in the MF/UF
market was finally dead I see a Statement of Qualifications Request that gets
my blood boiling….
This SOQ request for MF/UF suppliers for a drinking water system
less than 10 MGD has a minimum qualification requirement of 200 MGD of
installed capacity of pressurized municipal membrane systems. Give me a break!
If this engineer just wants to install a Pall system, why not sole source them
and stop wasting everyone’s time…. How would any other company qualify? Is the
engineer trying to create a façade that he is providing a competitive bidding
situation for the client to get good pricing? I don’t know how he can do that
if he only gets one bidder….
If the owner really only wants a Pall system why can’t they sole source them? The premium they will pay from sole sourcing is probably less than the engineering costs to run through the SOQ process, then conduct some pilots if there is more than one qualified (which can only happen if they don’t stick to the minimum requirements), then have a bidding process between those who piloted, then pick Pall anyway. Or is it the engineer who feels safe using a Pall system due to its track record and from having worked with Pall on projects in the past – and don’t get me wrong, Pall’s MF systems have a great record and looked really good against GE/Zenon and Siemens/Evoqua several years ago when they had all their membrane integrity issues.
If the owner really only wants a Pall system why can’t they sole source them? The premium they will pay from sole sourcing is probably less than the engineering costs to run through the SOQ process, then conduct some pilots if there is more than one qualified (which can only happen if they don’t stick to the minimum requirements), then have a bidding process between those who piloted, then pick Pall anyway. Or is it the engineer who feels safe using a Pall system due to its track record and from having worked with Pall on projects in the past – and don’t get me wrong, Pall’s MF systems have a great record and looked really good against GE/Zenon and Siemens/Evoqua several years ago when they had all their membrane integrity issues.
Granted this is a small engineering firm who may not have a
lot of membrane experience and feels safer working with a company like Pall,
but the specific engineer in question previously worked with a large national
firm and should know better… The SOQ is all about membrane integrity which
suggests to me somebody is stuck in the pre-2010 years when Pall was the only
show in town without integrity issues.
This engineer owes it to his client, to keep up with the times
and realize that there are new membranes on the market with over 6-7 years of
continuous operating data showing minimal membrane fiber breakages, to ensure
his client makes the best use of its ratepayers’ money. Do some homework before
putting out such a farcical SOQ and see if there are alternative OEMs to Pall
in the past 7 years that have good performing MF/UF systems and provide some
more realistic qualification requirements to allow a competitive bid for the client.
That is the least I would expect of a consultant that is getting paid good
money to help a City put its ratepayers' heard earned money to the best use.
