How To Become A Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator

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So you wanna become a wastewater treatment plant operator. You’ve read some awesome newsletters like The Grit Channel and for some reason you are attracted to long hours and general mayhem. Maybe you care deeply about the environment and this field sounds like something that you could be passionate about. Or maybe you stumbled into the industry by happenstance like the rest of us and it has grown on you. Whatever the case may be, there is a lot to learn and sometimes you need a little guidance on how to obtain those pesky certifications you keep hearing about. Now, this will be completely based on my own experience in the state of Michigan. License requirements vary by state and country so not everything I say my be applicable to your location. Looking up your state’s laws and regulations will lay out all the requirements for you. Below is a little prodding in the right direction on how to get started with it all.

Step one: Get hired. Ha, easy right? Well, sort of. This industry is in desperate need of operators and I strongly believe one of the great things about this industry is that you can get hired with little to no experience. Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to have to work hard to get the tangible skills you need to be successful, but I do think you can likely get hired as long as you put in the proper legwork beforehand. The first step to this is finding a job opening. Look at local water association’s job boards. Here in Michigan the MWEA is a great resource for training and job postings. If you’re brand new I’d focus on contract operations job openings versus municipal openings. Why? They usually are more willing to train you and have less requirements than do most municipalities. Really focus on bringing whatever skills or education you do have to the table. If you already have some mechanical, electrical, and plumbing skills those are great to highlight during the interview. If you do not, start working on those skills. Maybe you do not have those skills but you have a college degree. That’s great and will help you get certified faster as there are education requirements for the higher certifications like the B and A. Having a degree in biology, chemistry, or engineering are all fantastic degrees to have in this field. I do believe you can do it without a degree. Trades obviously transfer over very well also. HVAC, technicians, plumbers, and electricians are all great but likely would already be working in their respective fields alread. However, if they’re looking to pivot, they can definitely make great operators or even sometimes get hired directly for what they already do (electricians, especially). I am seeing the larger plants post a lot more operator-in-training or apprentice operator positions lately. That is great and if you happen to stumble upon on of those jobs near you, I’d definitely apply for it. Those types of positions will allow you to learn all the skills you need on while on the job. Generally, once you finish the apprenticeship/training period, you’ll get hired in as a full-fledged operator.

Step two: Look up your local requirements for certifications. While generally there is a lot of overlap from state to state, there are differences in requirements for certifications. There is a numbering system and there is a letter system. Michigan uses the letter system for the municipal wastewater treatment plant operator license. It starts with D and goes up to A. Pretty simple, right? Not really. There are a lot of requirements for each certification. This usually is a mix of college coursework, training, and experience. Once you know what the requirements are you can really start honing in on training and classes. They often break these categories down by process of the plant such as primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment in addition to things like maintenance, lab, and administrative. This is where being at a smaller plant really has it’s benefits because you’ll be doing all of those things. The bigger plants are more specialized and often times you may only be in one area of the plant for extended periods of time. That’s where communicating to management your desires to get certified really matter. Most the time it’ll be a requirement anyway. Pro tip: keep track of this yourself and don’t expect management to do it. While some will, they’ll appreciate you taking the initiative to keep track of it all. Plus, you’ll then know exactly when you can take the test and be ready to submit all the paperwork to test.

Step three: Seek out training. On the job training is great, and if you’re at a good facility, they’ll like show you the ropes but I am a firm believer that you should be studying on your own. Do not let anyone be responsible for your learning and training. Seek out training through correspondence courses such Sacramento State’s wastewater courses. They are great, and really the standard for wastewater treatment study material. I’ve taken most of their courses online and they are very good. In addition, Veolia now has a completely free online academy. Remember when I said seek out your local water associations? Yeah, do that for training as well. The MWEA here in Michigan does a fantastic job of putting on seminars and in-person classroom training on every aspect of the industry. Become a member and utilize these great resources. Most employers will pay for these things for you. In my case, I’ve only paid for a few things out of pocket and that was only because they were a bit outside of the scope of my job. Almost all of the rest of the training and courses were paid for by my employer both in the private and public sector. There are also full wastewater training programs that you could get training and a degree from. Here in Michigan, Bay de Noc Community College and Delta College both offer full associate degree programs in water/wastewater. If you have something like that near you, definitely utilize it.

Step 4: Take the test and become a certified operator. In most cases you can take the D level test within in a year. Again, this varies by state and the individual. But if you’ve done all the things listed above and really put in the time and studied on your own, you’ll likely have a good chance of passing the test. Congrats! Now you can rinse and repeat until you get all the certifications you desire and will unlock a lot of other opportunities in your career.

Let’s cut to the quick and have a real chat here. This career isn’t easy and there are a lot of things to factor before you commit to it. It can be incredibly stressful. This is a 24/7 year-round operation that has real consequences if you don’t do your job correctly. I’m not saying this to try and scare anyone off or gatekeep the industry. I just want people to have a good understanding of what they are getting into. Let me explain: I had a temp hire that I wanted train into a full time position. I called the person after they applied and really stressed what the job entailed and I was assured they could handle it. This job can be dirty and hazardous. This individual lasted two days of doing really basic things and quit because of a job task put them in close contact to spiders. Spiders love wastewater plants by the way. That’s somewhat of a silly story but I want to relay that it doesn’t just stop there. You’ll be working long shifts, often times you’ll be called out at random hours, and you will work a lot of holidays. Rain, snow or shine you’re expected to show up. You’ll be exposed to sewage and worse. It can be a very dangerous profession as well, where you’re exposed to bloodborne pathogens, gases, and filthy confined spaces. But if you can handle those things, and if you put in the time and effort it can make for a very rewarding career.