The water industry has a total of 15 certifications that an individual can attain. Those certifications consist of 5 in distribution, 5 in treatment, and 5 in wastewater. Getting all of them is a very difficult thing to accomplish since you need firsthand experience to become certified. My experience does not stretch into wastewater and therefore I will not go into detail on these certifications. Read on to learn more:
- The few things I will point out about wastewater certifications are that they go up to level 5. They require an examination prior to being eligible to become certified in wastewater. Lastly, you need at least one year of experience to be able to become certified. This is different from the other certifications we will talk about.
- The distribution certifications allow you to go up to level 5 as well. The name that you will often here is D5. This means that the person has the highest-level certification that could be received in distribution. This individual would also have a lot of experience and education to get to this point. That is important because a lot of supervisors, superintendents, and managers want someone with this certification. This D5 certification may also be required or preferred in lead, director, or other high-level roles.
- Now enough on the D5. Let us turn our attention to the D1 and D2. These are the lowest level certifications a person may get. The D1 requires no experience and no education to get. You just need to pass the exam. A great majority of people decide to start by taking this exam. It allows you to qualify for certain water jobs and may even allow you to be promoted. Again, you don’t need any education or experience. I will caution you and point out that these exams are difficult and you should prepare before taking them. The D2 also requires no experience. You only need some education to qualify.
- This finally leads us to the final certifications. The treatment certifications. The highest-level certification you can get here is a T5. This individual will have a lot of education and experience. Unfortunately, to get a T5, you need to work at a place that has a plant rated at T4. Not only do you need a T4 plant, but you need to do work at the actual plant itself. This keeps a lot of people from being able to get their T5. This in fact keeps a lot of people from getting their T3. In some agencies, the highest certification a person can get is a T3. This means they probably only have a plant rated T2. You could qualify to get a certification one level higher than your rated plant.
- Let’s finish with the T1 and T2. The T1 requires no experience or education. You can take the exam without needing anything. Again, please prepare yourself. The exam is hard. The T2 requires no experience, just some education.
These are the certifications possible in the water industry.