Median Pay by Area
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- $62,510 a year
- Ogden
- $60,720 a year
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- $58,570 a year
- St. George
- $62,000 a year
- Logan
- $56,160 a year
Utah wastewater operators
The steps from no certificate to a Utah wastewater 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 Utah Division of Water Quality (DWQ) Wastewater Operator Certification Program or its rule, Utah Administrative Code R317-10.
DWQ makes the final eligibility determination. Check with DWQ before you apply.
Why it matters
Utah's rule covers wastewater treatment works and collection (sewer) systems, except onsite wastewater systems and large underground wastewater disposal systems. Wastewater works run by cities, districts and other political subdivisions must employ certified operators.
Not every operator has to be certified. The chief operator and supervisors who make process decisions and are designated in direct responsible charge (DRC) must be certified at the facility's class. Other operators in direct responsible charge must be certified no more than one grade below it. If only one operator is employed, that operator is in direct responsible charge.
Every facility must have an operator certified at the facility's level on duty or on call.
Operators of systems that do not need certified operators, such as industrial wastewater treatment systems, may still choose to be certified.
Utah certifies wastewater treatment operators and wastewater collection system operators, each in Grades I to IV, with Grade I the lowest and Grade IV the highest. Your grade matches the class of the facility you operate.
Collection systems are classed by population served: Class I is 3,500 or fewer, Class II 3,501 to 15,000, Class III 15,001 to 50,000 and Class IV more than 50,000. Treatment plants are classed by points given for their size and processes: Class I is 30 points or fewer, Class II 31 to 55, Class III 56 to 75 and Class IV 76 or more.
Operators of a small lagoon system (a Class I lagoon with its collection system, serving fewer than 3,500 people or population equivalent) can hold one Small Lagoon System Operator Grade I certificate that covers both treatment and collection.
Utah also offers voluntary exams for Wastewater Laboratory Analyst (Grades I to IV), Biosolids Land Applier (Grades I and II) and Wastewater Plant Maintenance Technologist (Grades I to III).
Step 1
Anyone may take any grade of exam. If you pass without the education or experience for that grade, you receive a restricted certificate.
Use DWQ's comprehensive application. Describe your job duties in detail, because DWQ uses them to decide whether your certificate is restricted. Your supervisor completes Attachment A.
The first time you apply, include a notarized Citizenship/Alien ID Certification form with a copy of your photo ID.
Pay the $50 application fee for each computer-based exam, then email the application, with the first 8 digits of your online payment order number, to wwopcert@utah.gov.
DWQ-approved training includes:
Step 2
DWQ sends its list of eligible applicants to PSI every Monday, so expect a registration email from PSI in 1 to 2 weeks. Create a PSI account with the 4-digit Test Taker ID in that email, or log in if you have tested with PSI before.
When you register, you pay PSI's testing fee, which DWQ lists as currently $106. You can book up to 6 weeks ahead; DWQ suggests booking 4 to 6 weeks before the date you want.
Computer exams are offered year-round at four Utah test centers (Salt Lake City, Cedar City, St. George and Ogden) and by live remote proctoring, except during blackout periods around each paper exam. Check DWQ's Exams page for the current dates.
Your eligibility lasts 6 months from the eligibility email. If you do not test in that time, you must apply and pay again.
DWQ also offers a paper exam twice a year at Rural Water Association of Utah conferences. It costs $200 and must be paid before the application deadline, 4 weeks before the exam.
Step 3
An unrestricted certificate needs a high school diploma or equivalent plus operating experience for your grade. In Grades I and II, experience can make up for missing years of school. In Grades II to IV, some college in a job-related field can stand in for part of the experience.
A college year counts as 45 quarter hours or 30 semester hours. For Grades III and IV, 25 CEUs of relevant operator training can count as one year of education.
Someone required to be certified may run a system on a restricted certificate of the right grade for up to 1 year at a Class I or II facility, or up to 2 years at a Class III or IV facility, but must then hold an unrestricted certificate.
Training classes are not required before the exam, but they are available and may help.
Step 4
Once DWQ receives your passing score from PSI, it issues your certificate and mails it to the address it has on file.
When a restricted certificate holder meets the education and experience for the grade, they send the comprehensive application with Attachment A and the $75 change in status fee, and DWQ issues an unrestricted certificate.
Tell DWQ if you change systems, employers or direct responsible charge status, your mailing address or your name.
Step 5
Certificates last up to three years and expire on December 31 of the last year. Renewing is your responsibility, and operators in direct responsible charge must renew by the expiration date. The renewal fee is $75.
Grade I and II certificates need 2 CEUs, and Grade III and IV certificates need 3 CEUs, earned in the three years before the certificate expires. One CEU is ten contact hours; generally, 1 hour of specialized training earns 0.1 CEU.
DWQ and its Certification Council review training to make sure it relates to wastewater operation. Pre-approval is not required, but the course details and attendee list must be sent to DWQ so CEUs can be credited. One class can count toward more than one certificate if it applies to each.
A lapsed certificate can be reinstated within one year of expiring if you earned the CEUs before it expired. The reinstatement fee is $55 for each month late, up to 3 months, plus the renewal fee. After one year you must pass the exam again.
Exam day
Utah uses standardized exams from Water Professionals International (WPI), formerly the Association of Boards of Certification (ABC), built on WPI's Need-to-Know Criteria. DWQ wrote its own Need-to-Know Criteria for the Small Lagoon System exam.
Each exam is scored on 100 multiple-choice questions. The current treatment and collection exams have 110 questions: 10 are unscored trial questions mixed in, so answer every question as if it counts.
You pass with a score of 70% or higher. You get your score right after the exam from the test center supervisor or remote proctor.
At a PSI test center you are given pencils and ABC's standard formula sheet at check-in, plus one sheet of scratch paper at a time. For remote exams, the formula sheet is built into the testing software. DWQ links WPI's formula and conversion tables, including a Spanish version, for study.
Bring a silent, non-programmable calculator without letter keys or printing. Phone calculators are not allowed.
If you do not pass, wait 30 days before retaking the same exam. Within your 6-month eligibility you book the retake with PSI and pay only PSI's testing fee, with no new DWQ application.
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 Utah was $61,290 a year ($29.47 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $45,710 or less, and one in ten earned $79,860 or more.
These federal figures cover drinking water and wastewater operators together, at every grade. Pay for a new operator is usually nearer the low end.
Moving up
The same requirements apply to wastewater treatment, collection and small lagoon system certificates. Every grade also needs a high school diploma or equivalent (experience can make up for it in Grades I and II) and a passing exam score of 70% or higher. If you pass without these, you get a restricted certificate.
From another state
If you hold a valid wastewater operator certificate or license from another state or province with standards equivalent to Utah's, you can apply for a comparable Utah certificate of the same type and grade, but not a higher grade.
Apply on the comprehensive application with a copy of your current certificate, the notarized Citizenship/Alien ID form and the $200 reciprocity fee. The Certification Council reviews requests at its next meeting.
The certificate is issued once you are employed in Utah. If you are not yet working in Utah, you may receive a letter of intent to issue a certificate, and you send proof of Utah employment later.