Median Pay by Area
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (DC-VA-MD-WV)
- $73,600 a year
- Charlottesville
- $62,460 a year
- Harrisonburg
- $61,970 a year
- Richmond
- $59,970 a year
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk (VA-NC)
- $59,610 a year
Virginia wastewater operators
The steps from no license to a Virginia Class 4 Wastewater Works Operator license, how to apply to the board and book the exam with PSI, how to keep your license active and what operators earn. Every requirement links to the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), its Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals, or the board's regulations.
DPOR makes the final eligibility determination. Check with DPOR before you apply.
Why it matters
Virginia's regulations say no one may operate a wastewater works without a valid wastewater works operator license in a class equal to or higher than the class of that facility.
To operate means placing a unit process into or out of service, or making or causing adjustments to how a unit process runs.
Licenses are issued by the Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals, part of DPOR. You must be at least 18 to apply.
Wastewater Works Operator licenses come in Class 4, 3, 2 and 1. Class 1 is the highest. Virginia licenses waterworks operators (Classes 1 to 6) separately.
A Class 4 licensee may operate Class 4 wastewater works. Each higher class adds the next facility class, and a Class 1 licensee may operate Class 1 to 4 wastewater works.
Apply for a Virginia class, not an ABC class. DPOR says the classes set by ABC do not apply to Virginia licenses.
Step 1
Class 4 needs a high school diploma or equivalent and 6 months of experience at a Class 4 or higher wastewater works. Without a diploma, you need 1 year, and up to 6 months of it can come from substitutions.
Your experience must be gained under the direct supervision of an operator licensed in wastewater at a class equal to or higher than the facility where you work.
A year of full-time work means at least 1,760 hours or 220 workdays in 12 months. Part-time work can earn partial credit.
Work limited to nonoperating duties does not count. The board's form lists collection system work, laboratory work and plant maintenance as examples when they are your only duties.
Step 2
DPOR says waterworks and wastewater works apprenticeships run through Virginia Works, Virginia's workforce development agency. Registered apprenticeships are open to high school students age 16 or older; contact Virginia Works directly.
If your experience is at a facility that is not classified, you can apply for a provisional license. A provisional license alone does not let you operate a classified wastewater works.
Step 3
Send the Wastewater Works Operator License Application to the board at DPOR, not to the exam company. DPOR returns applications sent to the exam vendor.
Attach an Experience Verification Form for each job. Your direct supervisor certifies it; if no licensed operator is available, a representative of the facility owner who knows your work can. If you qualify with a college degree, attach an official transcript.
The application lists a $114.50 fee, which includes DPOR's technology fee. Application fees are not refundable.
The board tells you within 30 days if your application is incomplete. You must complete it within 12 months, and you have 24 months after approval to pass the exam.
Step 4
PSI's Virginia bulletin points to WPI (gowpi.org) for Need-to-Know Criteria, approved exam reference lists and formula tables.
For Wastewater Works Operator Class 4, use WPI's Wastewater Treatment Operator Class I Need-to-Know Criteria (2025 edition). Class 3 uses Class II, Class 2 uses Class III and Class 1 uses Class IV.
Every class uses the Wastewater Treatment exam reference list and the Wastewater Formula/Conversion Table (United States, 2023 version).
Step 5
The board tells you when you are approved to take the exam, and you get an email confirming your eligibility. PSI will not schedule you before it receives the board's verification.
Schedule online on PSI's Virginia page or call PSI at 855-340-3910. You can test at a PSI test center or by live remote online proctoring from your own computer.
PSI lists the fee for each Wastewater Works Operator exam, and each retake, as $128, paid to PSI by credit card. Fees are not refundable.
You can reschedule once at no charge if you contact PSI at least two business days before your appointment. Arriving more than 15 minutes late forfeits the exam and its fee.
Step 6
Wastewater works operator licenses expire on the last day of February of each even-numbered year. The board sends a renewal notice, but not receiving it does not excuse a late renewal.
The regulation sets the renewal fee at $80. Since July 1, 2026, DPOR also adds a technology fee of $7.25 a year to certain fees.
Renew within 30 days of expiration to avoid the $105 reinstatement fee. After 24 months, you must apply for a new license. You cannot operate once your license has expired.
Each renewal cycle, Class 4 operators need at least 16 contact hours of continuing professional education (CPE), and Class 1, 2 and 3 operators need 18. A contact hour is 50 minutes. CPE does not apply if you held the license for less than two years when it expires.
Class 1 and Class 2 wastewater operators need at least 4 of their 18 hours in utility management. Safety topics can count for no more than 25% of the hours.
Keep proof of each course for at least two years after the renewal cycle: the sponsor's name and contact information, your dates, the subject and the sponsor's statement of hours. The board may audit.
Exam day
PSI gives Virginia's Wastewater Works Operator Class 1 to 4 exams. Each has 100 questions plus 10 pretest questions, with a 4-hour time limit. Questions are multiple choice, A to D.
DPOR matches each Virginia class to an ABC exam: Class 4 to Wastewater Treatment Operator Class I, Class 3 to Class II, Class 2 to Class III and Class 1 to Class IV. ABC Testing is a Water Professionals International (WPI) service.
At a test center, pencils and ABC's standard formula sheet are provided. Online, the formula sheet is built into the testing software.
Bring a silent, non-programmable calculator without an alphabetic keypad or printing. Phones and personal items are not allowed in the testing room.
If you do not pass, wait 10 days before retaking. You can retake within your 2-year eligibility window by paying PSI again. A passing score is valid for 10 years.
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 Virginia was $59,420 a year ($28.57 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $38,590 or less, and one in ten earned $79,470 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
These are the high school diploma paths. An associate's, bachelor's or master's degree in a related field shortens the experience; without a diploma, more is needed. Related college credit (one month per semester hour), board-approved training (one month per training credit) and experience in waterworks can replace part of the experience, but never more than half. Experience comes from full-time work as an operator or operator-in-training.
From another state
DPOR has a Wastewater Works Operator Universal License Recognition application. It is for operators with a current license from another state that required an exam, held for at least a year. The one-year rule does not apply to licenses from the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee or West Virginia.
Each state that licensed you sends a Certification of Licensure or Letter of Good Standing, dated within the last 60 days, to the board at waterwasteoper@dpor.virginia.gov. DPOR may require an exam on relevant state laws.
If you do not qualify, apply with the regular license application. The board's regulations say an operator licensed elsewhere who meets Virginia's requirements must pass a board-approved exam.