Council OKs license and equipment purchase for mobile organic biofilm retrofit at treatment plant

The Sparks City Council voted unanimously Aug. 11 to approve a contract with the City of Reno and Novoda LLC to purchase license rights and equipment for a mobile organic biofilm process at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility.

The contract (AC6136) totals $778,000; Sparks’ share is $244,058.60. Councilmember Anderson moved approval and Councilmember Bybee seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

Austin Martin, treatment plant engineer, summarized an 18-month pilot of the mobile organic biofilm process, which staff and project partners deemed successful. He said the system would treat roughly 20–25% of the plant’s flow and that the purchase includes intellectual property and the equipment needed to operate the reactor.

“This pilot was deemed successful by Tilmorphis staff, our consultant at Jacobs Engineering, as well as the University of Nevada, Reno,” Martin said. Councilmembers had no questions during the presentation.

Action details

- Motion: Approve contract AC6136 with the City of Reno and Novoda LLC for the purchase of license and equipment for the mobile organic biofilm technology as part of the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility retrofit project in the amount of $778,000, Sparks' share $244,058.60. - Mover: Councilmember Anderson. - Second: Councilmember Bybee. - Vote: Motion carries unanimously (yes: 7; no: 0; abstain: 0).

Why it matters

The purchase follows a pilot intended to intensify treatment capacity within existing infrastructure and will allow the plant to treat part of its flow more effectively without immediate facility expansion.