You send out three RFQs for MBBR media. Three suppliers reply with three prices that differ by 40%. None of them is wrong — and none of them is comparable, because none of them was quoting the same job.
That is the most common way MBBR media gets bought badly. The price of a cubic metre of media is not a property of the media. It is the result of five numbers, and if the supplier does not have them, the number on the quotation is a guess. This guide explains what those five numbers are, why each one moves the price, and what to send so the quotations you receive can actually be compared.
The buying problem: a price without a job behind it
Most MBBR inquiries start the same way: “Please quote MBBR media, 50 m³, CIF Rotterdam.” It looks complete. It is not. The supplier still does not know whether 50 m³ is enough, whether the media will do the job in your tank, or what surface area you actually need. So they quote what you asked for — and the real cost shows up later, as extra media, a retrofit that underperforms, or a second order at a worse price.
A serious quotation is built backwards from your treatment job, not forwards from a round number. The five numbers below are what makes that possible. If you can send them, any competent supplier can give you a firm, comparable price. If you cannot send some of them, say so — a good supplier will tell you what to measure rather than guessing on your behalf.
The 5 numbers that decide your price
1. Reactor working volume — how much water the media lives in
The working volume of your MBBR reactor, in cubic metres, is the starting point for everything else. Media is dosed as a percentage of this volume — for HDPE carriers, typically 15–65% fill — so a reactor of 100 m³ and a reactor of 200 m³ are simply different jobs, even with identical wastewater.
Send the working volume if you know it. If you only have tank dimensions, send those; the supplier can work from length, width and water depth. If you are still sizing the reactor, the method for calculating the media volume is covered in detail on our technical site — see how to calculate MBBR media volume — but for a quotation, the volume (or the dimensions) is the number that matters.
2. Flow rate — how much wastewater per day
Flow, in m³ per day, sets the scale of the job alongside volume. A plant treating 100 m³/day and a plant treating 1,000 m³/day may use the same media, but they will not use the same quantity, the same logistics, or the same price per cubic metre.
Send the average daily flow, and the peak flow if you know it. If the flow varies seasonally — food processing, aquaculture, tourism — say so. A quotation built on average flow alone can leave you short in peak season.
3. Influent load — what is in the water
This is the number buyers most often leave out, and the one that most changes the answer. Flow tells the supplier how much water you treat; influent concentrations tell them how much work the media has to do. The essentials are:
- COD and BOD₅ (mg/L)
- Ammonia nitrogen, NH₃-N (mg/L)
- Total nitrogen and total phosphorus, if the discharge standard covers them
- Temperature range of the wastewater, and pH
Two plants with the same flow and the same reactor volume can need very different media volumes if one is treating domestic sewage and the other a high-strength food-processing effluent. Without the load, a supplier can only quote the media you named — not the media you need. And note the media choice itself follows from this number: standard HDPE carriers from our catalogue cover surface areas from above 650 m²/m³ (MBBR19) to above 1,600 m²/m³ (MBBR76), while our hydrophilic sponge media, NovusPore, offers above 5,000 m²/m³ — a real difference when the load is high and the tank is fixed. Which one fits your job is something the load numbers decide.
4. Effluent target — what the water must meet when it leaves
The discharge standard or reuse requirement is the other half of the load calculation. “Treat my wastewater” and “meet 50 mg/L COD and 5 mg/L ammonia” are different jobs with different media quantities — and different prices.
Send the effluent limits you must meet, and say who set them: a municipal discharge permit, an industrial park standard, an irrigation reuse requirement. If the target is still being negotiated with the regulator, say that too; a quotation can be given for the strictest likely case and adjusted later, which is far cheaper than ordering twice.
5. Quantity and delivery — where it has to arrive, and how much
Finally, the commercial numbers: how many cubic metres you want quoted, the delivery port or site, and your preferred delivery terms. Quantity matters because media ships by the container, and container economics are a large part of the landed price. Bagged HDPE carriers load roughly 70 m³ into a 40ft high-cube container; vacuum-compressed sponge media loads about 500 m³ into the same box. That difference alone can change the freight cost per cubic metre several times over — and it is why a quotation that looks cheap ex-works can be expensive at your port.
Send the delivery location, the quantity (or the range you are considering), and any deadline the project has. If the quantity depends on the supplier’s recommendation — which it should, if numbers 1–4 are new to you — ask for the recommended quantity as a line item, so you can see it and challenge it.
Checklist: what to send with your RFQ
| # | Number | What to send | If you don’t have it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reactor working volume | m³, or tank dimensions (L × W × water depth) | Send dimensions; supplier derives volume |
| 2 | Flow rate | Average m³/day, plus peak if known | Send design flow from your project documents |
| 3 | Influent load | COD, BOD₅, NH₃-N (mg/L); temperature, pH | Send a recent lab report, or the raw wastewater source and industry |
| 4 | Effluent target | Discharge limits and who set them | Send the permit application or the strictest likely standard |
| 5 | Quantity & delivery | m³ wanted, delivery port/site, deadline | Ask the supplier to recommend quantity as a line item |
A one-page RFQ with these five numbers will get you a faster answer, a firmer price, and a quotation you can compare line by line with the next supplier’s. An RFQ without them will get you a number — but you will not know what it is a number for.
What a good quotation should show you
When the replies come back, check that each one shows the same things, so the comparison is honest:
- Media model and surface area, not just “MBBR media” — the catalogue surface area per model is a published figure, and it should be on the quotation.
- Quantity in m³ and number of bags — our HDPE carriers pack at 0.1 m³ per bag, so the bag count is a quick check on the volume.
- Material specification — 100% virgin HDPE, density 0.96–0.98, for carriers; porosity above 98% for sponge media. Recycled material is the single most common reason a cheap quotation turns expensive, and it is worth asking for in writing.
- Freight and delivery terms as separate lines, so you can see what the media costs and what the shipping costs.
- Lead time and warranty terms stated plainly, not buried in a footnote.
If a quotation hides any of these, ask. The supplier that answers clearly is usually the supplier that delivers clearly, too. For background on how the per-cubic-metre price itself is built up, see our guide to MBBR media price per cubic metre.
What to send HNS for a quotation
If you would like a quotation from us, send the five numbers above — or as many of them as you have — through our contact page. Tell us whether you are looking at HDPE carriers, sponge media, or an open recommendation, and whether the media is for a new build or a retrofit of an existing tank. Our MBBR and sponge media are produced at our own factory in Yixing, China; the surrounding equipment — screens, aeration, blowers — comes direct from makers we work with, and we coordinate selection, quality inspection and export for the full package. We do not design or operate whole treatment plants, so if your project needs a plant designer, we will say so and work against their bill of quantities.
With the five numbers in hand, we can usually return a firm quotation with the media model, quantity, packing, freight and lead time shown as separate lines — the kind of quotation you can put next to any other supplier’s and compare honestly.
The short version
A comparable MBBR quotation needs five numbers: reactor volume, flow, influent load, effluent target, and quantity with delivery details. Send them, and the price you get back is a price for your job — not a guess dressed up as one. Our MBBR system overview and NovusPore sponge media page show the two media families we supply, with the catalogue figures behind them. When you are ready, send the numbers through the contact page and we will quote against them.