Median Pay by Area
- Kansas City, MO-KS
- $52,770 a year
- Lawrence
- $60,530 a year
- Manhattan
- $47,490 a year
- Topeka
- $48,570 a year
- Wichita
- $45,890 a year
- Kansas nonmetropolitan area
- $43,430 a year
Kansas wastewater operators
The steps from no certificate to a Kansas wastewater operator certificate, how to qualify for and pass the exam, how to keep your certificate active and what operators earn. Every requirement links to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Operator Certification Program or its rules, K.A.R. 28-16-30 to 28-16-36.
KDHE makes the final eligibility determination. Check with KDHE before you apply.
Why it matters
Kansas law requires every water supply system and wastewater treatment facility used by or for the public, whether publicly or privately owned, to be supervised by an operator certified by KDHE in the matching classification.
Any facility that treats wastewater needs a certified wastewater operator in operational control. That includes waste stabilization ponds, trickling filters, activated sludge, sludge treatment and clarification. It is the owner's responsibility, and operating without a certified operator is unlawful.
The person the owner puts in responsible charge, who makes the daily operating decisions that affect effluent quality, must be certified at the facility's class or higher.
Kansas currently has no mandatory certification for collection system or laboratory staff.
When a Small System, Class I or Class II facility hires a new operator to run it, the owner tells KDHE within 30 days and the new operator gets an Operator-in-Training (OIT) certificate. It lasts one year and can be renewed for up to one more year if you show you are preparing. Within six months after your first full year as an OIT, you must take the exam.
Kansas has five wastewater certificate classes: Small System and Classes I to IV. Facilities are classed by type of treatment and the population they serve.
Small System covers nonoverflowing wastewater ponds of any size. Class I covers overflowing wastewater ponds of any size and secondary treatment facilities serving up to 1,000 people. Class II covers secondary facilities serving 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Class III covers secondary facilities serving 5,001 to 25,000 people and advanced or specialized facilities serving 5,000 or fewer. Class IV covers secondary facilities serving over 25,000 people and advanced or specialized facilities serving over 5,000.
A secondary treatment facility is a KDHE-permitted biological plant, such as waste stabilization ponds, trickling filters, rotating biological contactors or activated sludge. Advanced or specialized treatment goes further, for example nutrient removal beyond secondary treatment.
A certificate lets you be in responsible charge of a facility at your class or any lower class.
Step 1
To take a Kansas exam, you must own, or be employed by or under contract to, a water supply system or wastewater treatment facility, and take part in its daily operation or maintenance.
Your current job and experience must match the exam type, so wastewater work for a wastewater exam. Only experience at a public water supply system or wastewater treatment facility counts.
You also need a high school diploma or GED.
Step 2
Each class needs a minimum amount of experience and a minimum number of points. Points come from education, experience and training.
A high school diploma or GED is worth 12 points. Each year of operating experience is worth 1 point; it must be full-time, hands-on work in the daily operation of the plant or system.
Each full year of college (30 semester hours) is worth 1 point, each KDHE-approved course of 10 consecutive contact hours 0.25 points, each California State University correspondence course volume 1 point, and each KDHE-approved semester course 1.5 points.
A KDHE-approved two-year environmental technology degree is worth 6 points and fulfills the one year of experience for the Class I exam.
Step 3
Send KDHE the Operator Examination Application with the $25 exam fee. KDHE must receive it at least 14 days before the exam date, and late applications are not accepted.
Seats are limited and applications are taken first come, first served, so KDHE recommends sending yours 3 to 4 weeks before the deadline.
If this is your first exam, include a copy of your high school diploma, transcript with graduation date or GED. Include college transcripts if you use college credit for points toward a Class II or higher exam, and proof of approved training that is not already in KDHE's records.
Unless you own the facility, a supervisor who can confirm your job and duties must complete and sign the employment section.
You can email the application without card details and pay by card by calling KDHE at 785-296-5511. To retake an exam at a level you have already taken, use the shorter Exam Retake Form.
Step 4
After you pass the written exam, KDHE issues your certificate. It names the class you are certified for and is valid for two years from the date it is issued.
You can check your certificate, renewal and training records in KDHE's CertTracker or its public Operator Search, and update your contact and employment details in CertTracker.
Step 5
Renew every two years. KDHE mails a renewal notice about 45 days before your certificate expires, but renewing on time is your responsibility even if the notice never arrives. The renewal fee is $20.
Before you renew, Class I to IV operators need 10 hours of KDHE-approved training every two years; Small System operators need 5 hours. Hours do not carry over to the next renewal period.
Training must relate to the certificate it counts for. Everything on KDHE's training calendar is pre-approved; for anything else, confirm approval with the provider. KDHE counts a full day of training as 5 hours and splits hours between water and wastewater when a course covers both.
Don't send the renewal fee until your hours are complete; KDHE returns incomplete renewals. Keep your own proof of attendance for each training.
An expired certificate can be reinstated within two years of expiring by completing the training and paying a reinstatement fee. Until then you are not a certified operator. After two years you must apply and pass the exam again.
Exam day
Every Kansas operator must pass a written exam for their class. You pass with a score of 70% or higher.
KDHE gives exams at least twice a year at times and places it sets. Its Training and Exam Schedule lists exam dates, cities and application deadlines.
KDHE or a KDHE-approved contractor grades the exam and tells you the result. Exams are not returned, but if you fail you can ask in writing for an analysis showing the areas you need to study.
You may take the same level of exam up to three times a calendar year. If you score 50% or lower, you must show proof of KDHE-approved training before your next attempt.
Using notes, text or stored materials, helping or getting help from another applicant, or copying the exam counts as misconduct. The penalty is denial of the certificate and a one-year wait before you can apply for any class.
Training is not required before the exam, but KDHE recommends it. KDHE suggests the Sacramento State (owp.csus.edu) water and wastewater training manuals, posts Kansas Small System training manuals, and publishes Need to Know documents listing what each class is expected to know.
KDHE gives its own written exams, and the KDHE pages we could read do not say who writes them, how many questions they have, how long you get or whether a formula sheet is handed out. Operator Master's free practice questions, timed practice exam and math help are built on the WPI exam format and the WPI formula table, so use them for general wastewater knowledge and math, and use KDHE's Need to Know documents as your main guide to what the Kansas exam covers. Operator Master is an independent study tool, not the official exam.
Pay
The median pay for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Kansas was $46,780 a year ($22.49 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $35,870 or less, and one in ten earned $66,800 or more.
These federal figures cover drinking water and wastewater operators together, at every class. Pay for a new operator is usually nearer the low end.
Moving up
Every class also needs a high school diploma or GED (worth 12 of the points) and a current job at a water or wastewater facility. A KDHE-approved two-year environmental technology degree fulfills the one year of experience for Class I.
From another state
Kansas law directs KDHE to make reciprocal certification agreements with other states whose certification standards are not lower than Kansas's. KDHE decides each reciprocity request case by case.
Send KDHE's Request for Reciprocity form with a copy of your current certificate, your high school diploma, transcript or GED, a résumé of your water or wastewater training and experience, and contacts at your previous employers.