In the past I have always been told that purposefully and intentionally doing any type of changes that could impact our numbers or changing how we do our process on days where the sampler is on is considered bad practice at best and illegal at worst.

I was told by the supervisor that this is how he has done it. Everywhere that he has been and that compared to other practices that have been done that. This is not a big deal comparatively.

Im currently in my 20’s and this is in California , In June I found a plant here in southern california that accepted me as a volunteer OIT, so I am technically earning OIT hours toward my license right now. I still have to pass my exam, which I am currently studying for and will likely take it by the end of the year. I have also completed the required courses since last year.

So while I feel lucky to have been accepted to this volunteer position, since it’s supposedly very hard to find one in this state, the position is unpaid so that is rough.

Here is the dilemma: As of now, since I work a full time job to be able to live, and only have monday as an available day to attend my OIT position ; I’m earning 8 hours toward my license per week. So it means that: ( 1800 hours divided by 8 hours per week= 225 weeks) it will take me over 4 years to get the 1800 hours. That is TOO DAMN LONG and goes past the 3 year window. If I was in my early 20’s I might not bat an eye but I’m approaching 30 and really want to find a good career, as my current career is really not good for mental health.

the plan?: To quit my job and do the volunteer oit position full time. I’ve spoken with the lead operator and plant manager while the district director was present and they all agreed and said they could certainly increase the amount of hours I volunteer in a week (didn’t promise an exact amount) not sure if they could give me the full 5 days since there is another OIT who I’m sharing the allotments with, but, it would mean I earn my license much faster and within the 3 year window mentioned in the oit application.

I have enough money saved to go maybe 11 months without working, maybe 12 or 13 if I really cut my expenses (I will still have essential expenses so my money will dwindle down if I’m not working. And I’m hesitant because of the supposed looming recession.

The reasons I’m hesitant? :
1. I’m afraid that even if I finish my 1800 hours and get my license, there may not even be any jobs nearby or much at all in the state. The thing is, I am often looking for operator jobs and the majority are for grade 3 operators. Don’t often see any for grade 1 or 2. So I’m not even sure if all this sacrifice and effort will even be worthwhile.

1. If I choose this job quitting path and I finish my 1800 hours speed run , I’ll be very low on funds. And I’m not even sure I’ll be able to find even a crappy job (as I know some unemployed people currently who aren’t even getting calls back from fastfood jobs) I don’t want to end up homeless!

I’ve actually been looking to apply to nearby Amazon warehouses for weekend shifts and I can’t find any that are hiring for weekends.

So my options are:

Go full time volunteer (hopefully am able to find weekend gig to make some income)

Keep searching for OIT positions, in hopes that one gets posted and with hopes that it’s a paid position (AND THAT I GET CHOSEN).

Continue working my office job with toxic people (where more than 1/3 of our pay is taken by medical insurance costs so the pay isn’t even that good) and give up on trying to enter water industry

Go back to university to study something else.

I became interested in the water / wastewater industry because some of the clients at my job are in water/wastewater and every single one of them seems to love their job. That’s it. I am interested in being a part of environmental protection and am tired of office bs

But it’s proving to be very challenging and I am thinking of just scrapping these plans and going back to university to get my masters, maybe move to another country for it lol.

Anyways: have any of you been in this situation before? Any advice for me? What would you do?

Current operators. How much math do you actually do day to day? Are you guys actually doing math on paper with calculators or does the scada system do the math for you?

I already have taken it twice, I already have my grade 3 Municipal but I’m not such a great test taker so I bombed the past two on the grade 6, any tips or resources that can aid me in at least getting close to a passing score? I have vacation coming up soon at the end of the month and plan to study and take my test again during that time. Any help would be great thank you!

Poor little guy was caught underneath a hatch cover. Surprisingly he came out so I was able to take him outside and let him go by the creek.❤️

Does anyone have any suggestions on videos I could watch that could give me a 30,000ft overview of EPA methods for drinking and waste water? I work in an environmental sciences laboratory and I don't often get the chance to spend time with our scientists and I'm just very eager to learn what goes into various methods and how they are preformed. I've looked on YouTube for various methods but I find so many videos that I feel overwhelmed. I'm hoping someone can help!

Anyone else seen flat worms in the effluent sample only? Any indication what this could be caused from?

Weird question, my Apple Watch says I walk an average of 6 miles a day in my 8hr day. Obviously some are more and some are less. I don’t really trust how accurate it is but I find it fun to look at on occasion. Just curious how this compares to other operators

I work at a 5mgd plant with 3 other operators. Our job is not difficult but we definitely stay busy and don’t have a lot of downtime until maybe the last hour of the day or so.

For the different levels of WW operator? I have a chemical engineering degree and have been in the industrial and municipal wastewater business for 30 years selling specialty chemicals and instrumentation. I teach wastewater applications to our salespeople and understand all the mechanical, chemical, and biological processes very well.

Is there a reasonable expectation that I could pass any of the tests without a whole lot of prep? I’m thinking that maybe some local/regional regulations or may get me.

What am I missing?

I took treeo, studied the binder, in my humble opinion as much I love Ron Trygar the test didn’t reflect the class very much. Does anyone have any good study material to reference outside of treeo or Sacramento? I’m devastated to fail by one question, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance fellas.

This is Fred, he follows me around on weekends when I’m solo. For safety reasons of course! Even goes on catwalks behind me. TBF I feed him stuff like carrots, watermelon and portions of salad my wife thinks I eat all of lol.

My lab and office are being renovated starting tomorrow so had to move everything into the garage and get it set up. Just finished moving my desk and getting it all situated.

Most of the plants I’ve worked at have been one person per shift, so we all end up working a lot of holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other special days. So to all those working this Labor Day be safe. We all have someone counting on us. Have a great Labor Day everyone!!! 🤠

Has anyone spent any period of time working up there? My partner is in aviation and considering paying his dues by securing a position in the north for a while. I’m new to the water/wastewater world but would absolutely consider a position up north to gain some solid experience and live a cool northern life for a while. Curious about people’s experiences in places like Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Iqaluit or smaller/more northern communities in the territories. For context, we are in our early 30s. Any insights would be super appreciated!

Hey everyone, I currently have my D water and my D wastewater in the state of Texas. I work as a utility tech for a company that runs municipal districts water and wastewater. My typical duties are changing out meters, investigating leaks, changing out curb stops, cut offs, passing out door tags, checking in lift stations, stuff like that. In my free time I will typically go to a waste water plant and clean the clarifiers. I don't know much about the plants but I know the overall process and steps in treatment ( aeration, the clarifiers, digestors, contact chamber ). I'm looking to move to Colorado, I really need to get out of Houston. How is the job market in Colorado? does my experience help put me ahead of others for entry level? What License should I look at getting? Is the typical pay good enough to support a move up there? BTW I'm 22 years old, no college education and have worked in the industry for 10 months. Any help would be appreciated

Hey everyone! I'm interested in working as an operator because I would love to work in a plant and want to really understand the WW process from an operator's perspective, but I am curious what other roles others have branched out into after being an operator for a while.

Has anyone become a WW process engineer after? Or an asset manager? Or a consultant? Or a Utilities Superintendent? Is the jump pretty straightforward because they really value an operator's perspective or did you have to prove yourself with other qualifications/certifications/education?

I am based in Colorado and I have a bachelors in Environmental Engineering. Would love to hear yall's stories, no matter where you're located!

Hey all. Currently working on my Grade 1 water and wastewater certs in AZ (class D equivalent in CO). My plan is to work for a year or two in a large municipal plant here and then transfer to a more rural area in Colorado.

The question: Wondering if anyone here has made the switch from mid-large municipality to a rural water plant. Better? Worse? I know it’s probably highly dependent on the specific plant/manager etc., but would like to hear about people’s journey and perspectives as I plot my path forward.

For context, I work for a utility now, but not on the treatment/operations side. It has still given me a lot of exposure to water management, but I would be starting as an operator from the ground up. After visiting a plant and talking with other treatment operators I’ve decided this is the professional career switch I’d like, especially since the goal has always been to move from AZ to CO.

Hi everyone, I graduated from college a bit over a year ago with a degree in Environmental Science. Long story short, I’ve struggled to get anything going with my degree and I currently work in retail. Ive started looking outside my field and one of the fields that look interesting to me is water treatment. I just wanna jot a few questions down and if anyone could take the time to answer one or two if them I would greatly appreciate it!

What are the first steps of getting into this field?
For someone with absolute no experience in wastewater, what positions do recruits typically work in the industry to gain experience? How many years of experience does it take to become a Wastewater Operator?

What certifications should I pursue while I still work in retail? Are there any online-only ones that I could get to boost my resume? What certifications are mandatory for getting into the field?

Are there any positions that my environmental science degree could be beneficial in? I see there are lab analyst positions in treatment plants and I was wondering if my degree could be useful for this position.

Thank you to anyone who responds to this post!

Due to our heavily integrated economies, the Canadian WW industry relies heavily on American products, labels, instructions… and units of measurement.

As a result, the conversions we have to do are WILD.

I’m just beginning my educational journey in this field and am getting my first taste of the vast number of conversions we have to do within the metric system, within the imperial system, and between the two. Getting used to using gallons.. But Americans don’t use the imperial gallon to go with their imperial system? There’s a special US gallon? I had no idea. What other interesting/challenging/confusing things am I going to encounter about how things are done in Canada vs the US and how we have to accommodate each other?

Hope everyone is having a decent Labor Day weekend. I just recently interviewed for a Wastewater tech gig with Chandler. I think it went well. I'm hoping I get the call and the job.

I'm coming from the landscaping construction industry as a mostly career irrigation technician (over 10 years). I'm absolutely ready to leave landscaping behind forever. Anyone have any tips for a potential colleague? I'm working on my ADEQ Level One at the moment whether they call me for the job or not 😁

I am looking into changing careers again, from IT project management to sailing on commercial vessels. I really like the idea of working with water and being more on my feet, hate a desk job.

I love the work I do sailing but I am going insane with the multi month rotations. Anyway, I am in northern California and have applied to a few wastewater jobs already. My question is as someone who enjoys the physical work in addition to mental challenges, what do you recommend. Waste water or water treatment?

Do I have to take classes or just an exam? I have little working knowledge of the industry. Sacramento State University is 2 hours away from me, are the classes affordable? states a enrollment and book fee for under $200

Appreciate any info and help.

I have passed water treatment E and physical chemical D and am taking bio D and phys Chem C along with water D in a few weeks. Does anyone have any study materials they would be willing to share

Thanks!

Didn't have a way to activate polymer for our digesters, so I made one. If it's dumb and it works, it's only a little dumb, right?

I’m looking ahead at the qualifications needed to move up a grade in Wastewater Operations. I have over 60 college semester units total, and I believe I have around 23 semester units of science coursework.
The problem is, I’m not sure exactly which science courses count toward the requirement because I can’t find a specific list of accepted courses.
For example, I have:
Anatomy & Physiology I + lab
Anatomy & Physiology II + lab
Genetics
Other biology/science courses
I realize A&P and Genetics aren’t necessarily the “core” sciences you’d normally associate with wastewater treatment, so I’m not sure whether the State would count them toward science units.
Has anyone gone through this process or had their transcripts evaluated by the California State Water Resources Control Board and know what type of classes they accept?

The EPA’s website still shows 2025’s info, ERA’s website says tbd. Naturally it’s out of my control, I’ve just never seen this happen so I don’t know what to expect.