Median Pay by Area
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
- $83,320 a year
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- $63,120 a year
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- $63,080 a year
- Rochester
- $62,950 a year
- Syracuse
- $60,840 a year
New York wastewater operators
The steps from no certificate to a New York Grade 1 or 1A wastewater treatment plant operator certificate, how to apply for and pass the exam, how to keep your certificate active and what operators earn. Every requirement links to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) rules in 6 NYCRR Part 650 or to the program documents published by the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA), which runs the certification program for DEC.
DEC makes the final eligibility determination. Check with DEC before you apply.
Why it matters
Every wastewater treatment plant in New York must at all times be under the responsible supervision of a certified chief operator or assistant/shift operator. Responsible supervision means being accountable for, and doing, the active daily on-site operation of the plant.
Plants made up only of septic tanks followed by subsurface leaching, septic tanks followed by sand filters designed for less than 50,000 gallons per day, or plants that treat only industrial wastes do not need a certified operator.
DEC sets the rules in 6 NYCRR Part 650 and makes the final decision on an operator's qualifications. Since September 1, 2011, NYWEA has been DEC's official administrator of the program, so you send your application and fees to NYWEA.
New York's certificates are for treatment plant operators. Time spent working in a water treatment plant or a collection system does not count toward the hands-on treatment plant experience you need, and neither does experience at an industrial pretreatment facility.
New York has four grades, 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Grade 4 is the highest. Certificates for activated sludge plants add the letter A (1A, 2A, 3A and 4A). An A certificate can be in responsible charge of either type of plant; a certificate without the A covers only other treatment processes, such as trickling filters, rotating biological contactors, sand filters and ponds.
DEC gives each plant a point score based on its design flow and treatment units. A chief operator needs Grade 1/1A for 30 points or less, 2/2A for 31 to 55, 3/3A for 56 to 75 and 4/4A for 76 or more. An assistant/shift operator needs Grade 1/1A up to 55 points, 2/2A for 56 to 75 and 3/3A for 76 or more.
DEC may require a higher grade than the table shows, based on a plant's design capacity, treatment processes and receiving water. If you do not know your plant's score, the manual's scoring sheet gives an estimate and DEC sets the final score.
Step 1
You need a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma (GED).
For Grade 1 you need at least six months of approved hands-on operating experience at any wastewater treatment plant with a SPDES discharge permit. For Grade 1A it must be at an activated sludge plant.
It is not enough to be employed at the plant. A full-time operator must spend at least half of the time in hands-on operation of all the plant's unit processes; someone in a non-operator title needs 520 hours of it for Grade 1. Maintenance, supervision, paperwork, building and grounds upkeep, and lab work not used to adjust the process do not count.
Step 2
For Grade 1 or 1A, complete a DEC-approved Basic Operations course or an approved home study course: Sacramento State's Operation of Wastewater Treatment Plants (Volumes 1 and 2) or Small Wastewater System Operation and Maintenance (Volumes 1 and 2), or the University of Florida's Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation course. Home study counts only for Grade 1 and 1A.
Every A certificate also needs a DEC-approved Activated Sludge course.
Training builds by grade. Grade 2 and up add the Basic Operations course and a laboratory requirement (a Basic Laboratory course or passing the lab exam), Grade 3 adds the Supervision and Technical Operations course, and Grade 4 adds the Management course.
NYWEA lists the current DEC-approved pre-certification schools and courses on its website.
Step 3
Mail NYWEA one package with a signed Application for Approval of Qualifications, a Statement of Experience signed by you and your supervisor (one for each plant and each job title), a copy of your diploma, GED or transcript, and copies of your training completion certificates.
Include the $195 exam application fee, by check or money order payable to NYWEA or paid online. Packages must be mailed; NYWEA does not accept email or fax. Applying later for a higher grade means a new $195 application.
Review takes three to four weeks. NYWEA then sends an approval letter with instructions for scheduling the exam; you cannot schedule until you are approved.
If NYWEA rejects your application, you may ask in writing for an appeal. NYWEA's Governance Council reviews it and recommends a decision to DEC, which makes the final determination.
Step 4
After approval, schedule your exam with PSI online or by phone and pay PSI's exam fee, which is separate from NYWEA's application fee. You may reschedule once at no charge if you call at least two business days ahead.
If you pass, you are certified right away. NYWEA processes your paperwork and mails your certificate, which takes six to eight weeks.
To move up a grade, meet that grade's education, experience and training requirements and apply again for its exam.
Step 5
Certificates are valid for five years. To renew, complete DEC-approved training in the five years before your certificate expires: 20 contact hours for Grade 1 or 1A, 40 for Grade 2 or 2A, 60 for Grade 3 or 3A and 80 for Grade 4 or 4A. You do not need to be working at a plant to renew.
For certificates that expire on or after January 1, 2027, part of those hours must be DEC-approved cybersecurity training: 2 hours for Grades 1/1A and 2/2A, and 4 hours for Grades 3/3A and 4/4A. These hours count within the total, not on top of it.
Approved courses carry a DEC course approval (RTC) number or appear on DEC's pre-approved course list. Hours above the minimum cannot be carried over, so you can apply as soon as you reach your total.
Mail the renewal application, copies of your training certificates and the $205 renewal fee to NYWEA, postmarked at least 90 days before your certificate expires. A $50 late fee applies to renewals that are incomplete or postmarked on or after the expiration date.
An expired certificate is not valid. Within one year you can renew with the late fee; after more than one year you must also retake and pass the exam for your grade.
Exam day
New York uses Association of Boards of Certification (ABC) exams. ABC is now called Water Professionals International (WPI), but the exams are still called ABC exams. PSI gives them on computer, by appointment Monday through Saturday, at sites in New York and at more than 160 PSI centers across the country.
Each exam is multiple choice and lasts three hours. You need 70% to pass, and you learn your result before you leave the test center.
You get an on-screen wastewater formula/conversion table plus a printed wastewater formula sheet and scratch paper, which you must hand back at the end. NYWEA links WPI's Formula/Conversion Table so you can study with the same sheet.
Bring a silent, non-programmable calculator without an alphabetic keypad or printing; phone calculators are not allowed. You need two forms of ID, one with a current photo and one with your name and signature.
You may retake an exam as often as you wish, but you must wait 90 days between exam dates. Your approval stays on file with PSI for 18 months.
NYWEA links ABC's Need-to-Know Criteria for each grade, with new criteria for Grades 1A to 4A effective September 1, 2025. It lists Sacramento State's Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Treatment Plants (Volumes I and II) and WEF's Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals series as exam references.
Operator Master has free practice questions with an explanation after every answer, a timed full-length practice exam and step-by-step math help built on the WPI formula table. It is an independent study tool, not the official exam.
Pay
The median pay for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in New York was $63,990 a year ($30.76 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $48,350 or less, and one in ten earned $102,260 or more.
These federal figures cover drinking water and wastewater operators together, at every level. Pay for a new operator is usually nearer the low end.
Moving up
These rows are the high school path, and each grade also needs its training courses and a passing exam. For an A grade, the experience at the required point score must be at an activated sludge plant. A degree shortens the total: for Grade 3/3A, 3 years with an associate degree (an AAS, or an AS or AA with 30 credit hours of math and/or science), or 1½ years with a DEC-approved AAS or a bachelor's degree with 30 credit hours of math and/or science; for Grade 4/4A, 5 years with an associate degree, 3½ years with a DEC-approved AAS or 2 years with such a bachelor's degree.
From another state
New York has no reciprocity agreement with any other state. It does recognize ABC/WPI exam results, so if you passed an ABC/WPI wastewater treatment exam you may not have to retake that grade's exam; include a copy of the certificate showing it.
Out-of-state applicants must meet the same education, experience and training requirements as New York applicants. Along with the usual forms, send a scoring sheet and flow diagram for each plant, an official account of your employment from each employer, and proof of your training; training completed in another state may count.
Allow at least four weeks for NYWEA and DEC to review an out-of-state application.