Median Pay by Area
- Nashville–Murfreesboro–Franklin
- $59,740 a year
- Knoxville
- $59,120 a year
- Memphis
- $54,460 a year
- Chattanooga
- $50,770 a year
Tennessee wastewater operators
The steps from no certificate to a Tennessee Wastewater Treatment 1 certificate, how to apply to the Board, schedule and pass the exam, keep your certificate active and what operators earn. Every requirement links to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and its Fleming Training Center, which runs the operator certification program for the Water and Wastewater Operator Certification Board.
TDEC makes the final eligibility determination. Check with TDEC before you apply.
Why it matters
Each person in direct charge of a wastewater treatment plant or a wastewater collection system in Tennessee must hold a certificate in a grade equal to or higher than the grade of the plant or system they operate. The same applies to water treatment plants and distribution systems.
Certificates are issued to a person and are not transferable.
Tennessee offers 14 types of water and wastewater operator certification. The wastewater ones are Biological/Natural Systems, Wastewater Treatment 1 to 4, and Collection Systems 1 and 2.
Every certification needs certain operating experience, a high school education or equivalent, and a score of 70% or higher on the certification exam.
Step 1
TDEC's certification process starts with getting the operating experience the certificate needs. The exact experience for each grade is set in Tennessee's Rule 0400-49-01; ask the Fleming Training Center what applies to you before you apply.
Wastewater treatment experience includes work such as process control, cleaning and maintaining preliminary treatment, controlling clarifier, return and waste sludge and aeration rates, disinfection, lab control tests and plant calculations. Collection experience includes pumps, lift stations, valves, line installation, repair and cleaning, manholes and TV crew work.
A certified operator of a similar or higher classification who knows your work must sign to verify your experience. If no such person is available, a person in authority at your system may sign instead.
For experience at a facility without a Tennessee ID number, such as a plant in another state, complete TDEC's Supplement B (Wastewater Treatment Plant Classification Worksheet) for that plant. It scores design flow, discharge requirements and the treatment, disinfection and sludge-handling processes.
Board-sanctioned training and approved college study can count toward part of the experience. Each day of Board-sanctioned comprehensive training may equal one month of operating experience, up to limits set in the rule (as much as 36 months for Wastewater Treatment Grade IV).
Step 2
Fill out TDEC's Application for Certificate of Competency (form CN-0704). Send a separate original, signed application for each classification; scanned copies, email and fax are not accepted.
List every related job on the job pages and attach proof of courses you have completed. Include a copy of your high school diploma or GED and proof of U.S. citizenship or qualified alien status. If you claim college work, the college must send your transcript directly to the Board.
Mail the application with the $100 nonrefundable application fee (check or money order payable to Treasurer, State of Tennessee) to the Operator Certification Board at the Fleming Training Center, 2022 Blanton Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129.
The application must be postmarked at least 60 days before the exam. If it is incomplete, you have 10 days to send what is missing or it is denied.
Step 3
TDEC staff review your application and present it to the Water and Wastewater Operator Certification Board, which rules on it at its meeting.
The Fleming Training Center posts the application deadline, Board meeting date and testing window for each spring and fall exam cycle.
Once the Board approves you, you may take any one scheduled exam during the next 12 months.
Step 4
After approval, PSI emails you instructions for scheduling, so give a valid email address on your application. You then pay PSI and book your exam online or by phone at 833-256-1420.
Exams are by appointment, Monday through Saturday, at PSI test centers in Tennessee and across the United States.
You may reschedule once at no charge if you contact PSI at least two business days before your appointment. Arriving more than 15 minutes late, or without two forms of ID (the main one a current government ID with your name, signature and photo), forfeits the exam and its fees.
If you need testing accommodations, say so on your application, then send PSI's Accommodations team a request once you are approved and schedule through them.
Step 5
If you pass, you get a score report at the test center, PSI sends your result to TDEC's certification staff, and your official certificate is mailed to you within 4 to 6 weeks.
Step 6
Each certificate expires on December 31 and is renewed every year. TDEC emails a renewal application each December, and you can pay online through the FTC Public Portal.
The renewal fee for each certificate is $50 if paid before February 1 and $100 from February 1 through June 30. A certificate not renewed by June 30 is cancelled.
You also need continuing education every three years: 6 hours for Wastewater Treatment 1 or 2, Collection Systems 1 or 2 and Biological/Natural Systems, and 12 hours for Wastewater Treatment 3 or 4.
Send proof of each completed course through your TDEC customer account, by email to FTCOperator.Renewal@tn.gov or by mail to the Fleming Training Center. You get credit only for a course you complete in full, and a course taken more than once across two back-to-back continuing education periods counts only once.
The Fleming Training Center offers courses and lists state-approved outside training providers on its Operator Certification page.
Exam day
The Board offers only computer-based exams, given at PSI test centers. Tennessee's wastewater treatment Grade I to IV and collection exams are Water Professionals International's (WPI) standardized exams.
WPI's Class I Need-to-Know Criteria, posted by the Fleming Training Center, lists 100 scored multiple-choice questions (A to D) in four content areas, with about 10 needing calculations. Up to 10 more unscored trial questions may be mixed in.
You need 70% or higher to pass. TDEC explains that scores are scaled so every version of the exam is held to the same passing standard.
PSI gives you pencils and ABC's standard formula sheet at check-in. For study, the Fleming Training Center posts the WPI Wastewater Treatment & Collection Formula/Conversion Table and its own formula manual.
You may bring a silent, non-programmable calculator without alpha keys or printing, such as the TI-30X IIS or TI-30Xa. Graphing calculators are not allowed. The exam is timed, and you can take an unscored practice exam on the computer first.
If you fail, your score is not final until the Board reviews challenged questions at its next meeting. After two failed attempts at the same classification, you must complete Board-sanctioned training before the Board will consider a new application: 18 hours for Grade I or II or Biological/Natural Systems, 30 hours for Grade III or IV.
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 Tennessee was $50,670 a year ($24.36 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $35,430 or less, and one in ten earned $75,540 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 are the hours TDEC requires every three years to keep each wastewater certificate. The operating experience and education each grade needs to apply are set in Rule 0400-49-01; the Fleming Training Center can tell you what applies before you apply.
From another state
The Board may certify an operator from another state without an exam if that state's certification requirements are comparable to or greater than Tennessee's. It may depend on that state giving the same privilege to Tennessee operators.
Apply on form CN-0704 marked for reciprocity, with your state, classification and license number, plus the matching supplement sheet (Supplement B for a wastewater treatment plant) for each certification. The fee is $100.
A complete application must arrive at least 60 days before a Board meeting. TDEC sends a verification form to your state, then presents your application to the Board, and mails your certificate once it is approved.