Building the skills of water system operators and recruiting new operators to the workforce

All human beings need water to live. For most of us living in the United States, getting water to keep our bodies (and many other things) alive, clean and healthy is easy. Many of us take our water supply, treatment and delivery systems for granted.

RCAP supports the current workforce

Not only are an extensive infrastructure and costly plants and equipment required for this, but so are qualified workers to operate all of it. Because we all use and consume water from our taps every day, providing and treating water is a public health concern. It is also an environmental concern. So the human oversight of this essential public service is very important. Machines and operations can be automated and computerized, but workers are needed to use their skills and judgment in testing and treating our water and keeping the infrastructure in good operating order so water can be clean and safe and available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, year after year, decade after decade.

RCAP’s main mission is to help small, rural communities operate their drinking water and wastewater systems well – in an efficient, effective and sustainable way. We provide training and technical assistance to members of small, rural communities who are involved with their water systems. These people include members of the board or governing body that oversees a system, managers of water plants, and, of course, operators, who have probably the most hands-on job in running a system.

RCAP cares about the abilities, skills and capabilities of all of the people involved in operating a water system, but operators in particular need technical skills in their work, and RCAP helps them with those.

Are you interested in a water-operations career?

A comprehensive study conducted in 2005 by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (now the Water Research Foundation [7]) determined that, within ten years – by 2015 – more than one-third of the water and wastewater workforce will retire. This is a very secure field to get into because operators will always be needed everywhere. And, because operators are on the front lines of protecting public health and the environment, they are the ultimate green jobs!

Operators do not need an extensive education (often not even college), but there is some training and experience needed.

Some helpful sources of information on operator schools and training programs where you live:

• a section on the SmallWaterSupply.org [8] website (go to Water/Wastewater Operator Training Programs [9]). It is a database that lists local schools where students can go to get training necessary to be prepared for their state exams. These programs are generally geared toward high school graduates looking at becoming an operator.   
• A selection of training programs for water and wastewater operators [10] - fact sheets compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describing training programs, internships and mentoring programs that help new operators enter the water and wastewater industries, as well as enhance the skills and knowledge of experienced operators.

Certification from the appropriate authorities is also often part of what is needed to be an operator. There are other organizations and entities that are concerned with the certification requirements of operators. One of these organizations is the Association of Boards of Certification [11] (ABC). RCAP is a member of ABC because of our commitment to recruitment and training of operations professionals.

Another good source of information about careers in water and wastewater operations is a series of online videos produced by Western Canada Water. Although they were produced in Canada, much of what the videos present applies to the United States as well. Below is the first video in the series. Watch all videos [12]

Another helpful resource: A Day in the Life of An Operator [13], a posting on the Operation Matters blog of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection

Other workforce-recruitment campaigns for water operations:

• Work for Water: Great Careers for a Great Cause [14]
• "Water You Waiting For?" video [15]

RCAP wants to encourage new people to enter this part of the workforce and encourage current operators to raise up and train new operators in their systems.