(1)
(a) Grade IV Wastewater Treatment Plant
Operator
Certification as an operator in this classification will be made
only upon the satisfactory completion by the applicant of the requirements of
either parts 1. or 2. of this subparagraph.
1. An applicant must have a bachelor degree
in engineering, chemistry or a related science from an accredited college or
university, must have twelve (12) months of operating experience at a Grade III
or a Grade IV Wastewater Treatment plant, and must satisfactorily complete a
written examination.
2. An
applicant must have a high school education or equivalent, must have sixty (60)
months of operating experience at a Grade III or a Grade IV Wastewater
Treatment plant, and must satisfactorily complete a written examination. Within
the discretion of the Board, college course work in related science or
engineering courses satisfactorily completed, or Board sanctioned comprehensive
training in chemistry, bacteriology, and the fundamentals of wastewater
treatment satisfactorily completed through schools for operators,
correspondence courses, or other special training, may be credited toward the
required operating experience to a maximum equivalency of thirty-six (36)
months.
3. To receive full time
operating experience credit, a minimum of 100% of the activities must be work
experience duties. The Board reserves the right to adjust calendar months of
experience to a reduced number of months of experience where it is obvious that
an applicant's experience routinely includes other duties. The Board encourages
documented apprenticeship training programs and classroom training provided by
the employer to better prepare an operator to make decisions in plant operation
to assure public health protection.
(b) Grade III Wastewater Treatment Plant
Operator
1. An applicant must have a high
school education or equivalent, must have twelve (12) months of operating
experience at a Grade II wastewater treatment plant or a Grade III wastewater
treatment plant, and must satisfactorily complete a written examination. Board
sanctioned comprehensive training in chemistry, bacteriology, and the
fundamentals of wastewater treatment satisfactorily completed through schools
for operators, correspondence courses, or other special training programs may
be credited toward the required operating experience to a maximum equivalency
of three (3) months.
2. To receive
full time operating experience credit, a minimum of 50% of the activities must
be work experience duties.
(c) Grade II Wastewater Treatment Plant
Operator
1. An applicant must have a high
school education or equivalent, must have twelve (12) months of operating
experience at a Grade I wastewater treatment plant or a Grade II wastewater
treatment plant, and must satisfactorily complete a written examination. Board
sanctioned comprehensive training in chemistry, bacteriology, and the
fundamentals of wastewater treatment satisfactorily completed through schools
for operators, correspondence courses, or other special training programs may
be credited toward the required operating experience to a maximum equivalency
of three (3) months.
2. To receive
full time operating experience credit, a minimum of 33% of the activities must
be work experience duties.
(d) Grade I Wastewater Treatment Plant
Operator
1. An applicant must have a high
school education or equivalent, must have twelve (12) months of operating
experience in a Grade I wastewater treatment plant or twelve (12) months
operating experience at a biological/natural system and six (6) months at a
Grade I wastewater treatment plant, and must satisfactorily complete a written
examination. Board sanctioned comprehensive training in chemistry,
bacteriology, and the fundamentals of wastewater treatment satisfactorily
completed through schools for operators, correspondence courses, or other
special training programs may be credited toward the required operating
experience to a maximum equivalency of three (3) months.
2. To receive full time operating experience
credit, a minimum of 33% of the activities must be work experience
duties.
(e)
Biological/Natural System Operator
1. An
applicant must have a high school education or equivalent, must have twelve
(12) months of operating experience in a wastewater system classified as a
biological/natural system, and must satisfactorily complete a written
examination. Board sanctioned comprehensive training in chemistry,
bacteriology, and the fundamentals of wastewater treatment satisfactorily
completed through schools for operators, correspondence courses, or other
special training programs may be credited toward the required operating
experience to a maximum equivalency of three (3) months.
2. To receive full time operating experience
credit, a minimum of 33% of the activities must be work experience
duties.
(f) Grades I
& II Wastewater Collection System Operator
1. An applicant must have a high school
education or equivalent, must have twelve (12) months of operating experience
at a wastewater collection system, and must satisfactorily complete a written
examination. Board sanctioned comprehensive training including installation,
operation, maintenance and repair of collection systems, satisfactorily
completed through schools for operators, correspondence courses, or other
special training programs may be credited toward the required operating
experience to a maximum equivalency of three (3) months.
2. To receive full time operating experience
credit, a minimum of 50% of the activities must be work experience
duties.
(2)
Reclassifications Resulting from Amendments to this Chapter
(a) The reclassification of a wastewater
treatment plant or a wastewater collection system that immediately occurs as a
result of amendments to this chapter shall not reduce the operator
classification of a certified operator then employed at that plant or system to
a lower operator classification.
(b) The reclassification of a wastewater
treatment plant or a wastewater collection system that immediately occurs as a
result of amendments to this chapter shall raise the operator classification of
a certified operator then employed at that plant or system to a higher operator
classification equivalent with the new classification of the plant or system.
This subparagraph shall apply only to a certified operator whose operator
classification, immediately prior to reclassification of the plant or system
pursuant to amendments to this chapter, is at least equivalent with the
classification of the plant or system at which he/she is employed.
(c) An applicant for examination who is
employed at a wastewater treatment plant or a wastewater collection system that
has been reclassified by the Department, and certified at the appropriate
level, may have his/her experience at the facility applied at a rate equal to
the level of the reclassified facility.
(d) An operator classification authorized
under prior rules that is eliminated upon amendments to this chapter becoming
effective shall be reclassified to the highest comparable operator
classification authorized under these rules. (Industrial Biological Waste
Treatment certificates become Grade IV Wastewater certificates).
(e) An operator's classification may be
changed by the Board if the operator is employed at a wastewater plant or
collection system that has been incorrectly classified by the Department for
one (1) year or more. The operator must hold a valid certificate equal to the
incorrect plant or system classification and the operator must have applied for
and achieved the certificate based on the incorrect classification.
(3) Operating Experience Credit
for Approved Study
(a) For part (1)(a)2. of
this rule, the Board may approve each one (1) semester hour, or one and one
half (11/2) quarter hour, of academic study satisfactorily completed at an
accredited college or university in related science or engineering courses as
equal to one month of the operating experience required as a qualification of a
certified wastewater treatment plant operator.
(b) For parts (1)(a)2., (1)(b)1., (1)(c)1.,
(1)(d)1., (1)(e)1., and (1)(f)1. of this rule, each day of Board sanctioned
comprehensive training, satisfactorily completed, through schools for
operators, correspondence courses, or other special training programs may be
equal to one month of the operating experience required as a qualification of a
certified wastewater treatment plant operator.
(4) Work Experience
(a) The Board may approve the wastewater
treatment operating experience required in parts (1)(a)1., (1)(a)2., (1)(a)3.,
(1)(b)1., (1)(c)1., (1)(d)1., and (1)(e)1. of this rule in two (2) or more of
the following work experience duties:
Control of:
Solids
pumping from clarifiers
Scum removal in clarifiers
Return and waste sludge rates
Aeration rates
Recirculation rates to trickling filter or rotating biological contactor
(RBC) Operation of:
Disinfection system feed rates
Digesters and/or solids conditioning processes
Performance
of:
Calculations and plant control
Interpretation of
laboratory test results
Interpretation of process control
data
Cleaning and maintenance of preliminary treatment
Adjustment of wastewater levels or flow through a lagoon system
(b) An operator applying for a
Grade IV wastewater system certification may be granted partial credit by the
Board for up to forty percent (40%) of any approved operating experience
obtained in a water supply system.
(c) The Board may approve the collection
system operating experience required in part (1)(f)1. of this rule in two or
more of the following work experience duties:
Operation and/or
maintenance of:
Pumps
Lift stations
Valves
Lines and equipment
Pipeline
installation
Service connection installation
Leak
detection
TV crew activities
Line repairs
Line cleaning
Manhole maintenance
Pretreatment
(5) Summary of Wastewater Treatment Plant and
Collection System Operator Education and Experience
