Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — During its Dec. 16 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council awarded an agreement for sewage sludge disposal services and related wastewater services to Wastewater Transport Services LLC.
In November, the city of Dripping Springs put out a bid package for sludge hauling — which is done out of the wastewater treatment plant offsite, so that it is not sitting in the clarifier — and there were three responses received by the Dec. 5 deadline, explained deputy city administrator Shawn Cox. One of the responses was from Wastewater Transport Services LLC, which is the city’s current provider.
“We’ve been using them since before the city took on operation. They were a carry over for when Inframark was running our system,” Cox said. “So, they knew our system and we continued with that. Getting into it, and as we are getting up and running, we decided to put out our own bid, just to make sure we were collecting the correct pricing.”
Out of the three bids, the utility department recommended that the city go with Wastewater Transport Services as, for the base services, they were the lowest bidder.
“We did ask all the bidders to do some supplemental services, as well, and provide us emergency pricing, of which they did,” the deputy city administrator explained. “Wastewater Transport might have been a little bit higher on some of those services, but those are random and few and far between, so we based everything off of the base service — just sludge hauling.”
The sludge hauling scope of work, according to the request for proposals, is as follows.
South Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility
14,000 gallons to 42,000 gallons per week
Minimum 14,000 gallons per scheduled day
Prescheduled reoccurring hauls
Two days’ notice for any changes in scheduling
Prescheduled work will occur 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
Must notify immediately for any spilled sludge and provide clean up at no charge
Big Sky Wastewater Treatment Facility
7,000 to 28,000 gallons per month
Minimum 7,000 gallons per scheduled day
Scheduled two days in advance as needed
Two days’ notice for any changes in scheduling
Prescheduled work will occur 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
Must notify immediately for any spilled sludge and provide clean up at no charge
Arrowhead Wastewater Treatment Facility
7,000 to 28,000 gallons per month
Minimum 7,000 gallons per scheduled day
Scheduled two days in advance as needed
Two days’ notice for any changes in scheduling
Prescheduled work will occur 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
Must notify immediately for any spilled sludge and provide clean up at no charge
Cox explained that the city anticipates spending more than $50,000 on sludge hauling this year across the three plants.
“We won’t have a set price because it just depends on how many hauls, so there won’t be an amount not to exceed, but we do anticipate it exceeding $50,000, hence the approval from council,” he said.
The contract is for a one-year term commencing Jan. 1, 2026, with the possibility of two one-year renewals.
Dripping Springs City Council meets next at 6 p.m. Jan. 6.
