Alabama Wastewater Treatment Operator Continuing Education Training Sessions
April 28, 2023
The wastewater treatment process is complex. Facility management and operations is a specialty service offered by McFadden Engineering to help our clients minimize the burden of maintaining facilities and wastewater treatment operations. Not only do we offer process support and design/build consultation services, but we also offer support to the men and women who operate wastewater treatment plants, both municipal and industrial, across the state of Alabama as well as many other states.
State Plant and Operator Requirements
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) requires the following Staffing Requirements. All Water Treatment Plants, Wastewater Treatment Plants, Water Distribution Systems, and Public Wastewater Collection Systems are required to be operated by an Operator certified, in accordance with the provisions of this Division, as competent to operate the plants or systems to which the plant or system is classified.
Those entering a career as a wastewater operator begin as operator interns and after passing required exams, move into the following certification levels: Certified Operator Grade I, Grade II, Grade III and Grade IV. Operators are required by the state to obtain continuing education hours.
Alabama Wastewater Operator Continuing Education Requirements
According to ADEM, Alabama’s certified water and wastewater operators are required to take continuing education classes during each three-year certification renewal cycle. During each three-year period, operators must attain a minimum number of Continuing Education Hours (CEHs), described in ADEM’s Division 10 regulation.
As a service, McFadden Engineering offers on-site continuing education training sessions. These sessions are led by Jimmy Wiggins, a Grade IV Certified WWTP Operator at McFadden Engineering. Jimmy works with the client, Alabama Water Pollution Control Association (AWPCA), the governing agency for training and certifications and ADEM to develop training topics and ensure the curriculum is pre-approved. The McFadden team works to tailor each training to the needs of the operator class.
Previous training topics include:
- Chlorine Safety
- Grade 2 test prep
- Biosolids
- Liquid process
- Safety
The McFadden Engineering team of wastewater treatment experts have more than 100 years of combined experience and have been exposed to many issues and problems that individual facility operators likely have not encountered. We’re here to help operators as an ally, solve unique problems and provide training to give them the comfort level to work confidently within their facility. We take pride in both problem-solving and building operator confidence through training and expert guidance.
For more information about McFadden Engineering’s Facility Management and Operations services, click here or contact our team.