Seven bids were received on the membrane bioreactor equipment needed for the Port Hadlock wastewater treatment system.

Bids ranged from a low of roughly $1.4 million to a high of approximately $4.6 million.

Jefferson County officials said getting bids for the membrane bioreactor equipment will help inform the overall design of the long-sought sewage treatment facility for Port Hadlock.

County Commissioner Kate Dean stressed the bid opening did not mean the county was prepared to make an immediate decision on the equipment. 

"We are not planning on purchasing this equipment soon," Dean said.

The bid packages will be examined in detail by county staff, and County Administrator Philip Morley said the county would ultimately negotiate a contract that would set the purchase price.

Companies that submitted bids were: Schwing Bioset, Inc. of Somerset, Wisconsin; Ovivo USA, of Round Rock, Texas; Cloaccina, of Royal Grande, California; Evoqua Water Technologies, of Thomasville, Georgia; Kubota, of Bothell, Washington; H2O Innovation, of Vista, California; and BluBox Modular Systems, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The total contract bids were:

• Schwing Bioset, Inc.: $4,692,341

• Ovivo USA: $1,601,600.22

• Cloaccina: $1,873,539.52

• Evoqua Water Technologies: $1,508,732

• Kubota: $3,852,060

• H2O Innovation: $1,473,685

• BluBox Modular Systems: $2,922,717

The use of a small, pre-packaged membrane bioreactor for the sewer project is expected to help limit the size of the new sewage treatment system to serve just the "core area" of Port Hadlock. The sewer system could then expand slowly afterward, according to the county, if needed.

Bids were originally scheduled to be opened Monday, Feb. 1, but the bid deadline was extended to Monday, Feb. 22.

The number of bidders was a change from years past.

"I'm impressed with the number of firms that are in a position to be bidding on this," Morley said. 

"How great that we had seven separate bids on this," he added.

County Commissioner Greg Brotherton was taken by the names of the firms offering bids. 

Some sounded like pharmaceutical companies, he added.

"Why all the crazy names?" Brotherton joked. "They can't just be, like, Sewer Gear, LLC?"

County officials said the bid prices included design services that the supplier of the equipment will be providing to the company that is handling the overall design of the entire treatment system.

The engineer's estimate for the equipment was $2,758,923.