Board of Drinking Water and Wastewater Professionals

A list of approved training courses and instructors is maintained by the Board. If the relevancy, number, and type of CEs are not clear to you in the training session promotional materials, contact the Board at BCRE-Education@dopl.idaho.gov to find out if the course has been approved for relevancy and CEs before you register.

Click here for the Board approved Backflow Assembly Tester (BAT) Course. 

Click here for information on BAT course providers.

CE FOR TRAINERS

The Board has voted to allow a licensed operator who is an instructor or speaker at a water or wastewater continuing education course to be credited the same number of contact hours as the students of the course for not more than one (1) presentation of the training per year. Instructors should submit the attached form for credit.

NOTE: The courses offered through California State University –Sacramento, Office of Water Programs (commonly known as “Ken Kerri courses”) have been deemed acceptable by the Board so long as the courses are relevant to the profession. For more information, please see the minutes from May 4, 2016. The Board of Drinking Water and Wastewater has approved the following states continuing education courses, Nevada, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Washington are deemed approved by the Board.

AUDITS

The Board conducts annual audits to ensure compliance with the continuing education requirements. Audits may be initiated any time after you renew your license. By signing your renewal application and answering “Yes” to the question that you have met the continuing education requirements, you are certifying to the Board that you have already obtained proof of having completed the required continuing education. 

If you are audited, you must submit a listing of all continuing education courses completed during the previous year AND proof of attendance documentation for each course. A water or wastewater licensee may carry over a maximum of six (6) hours of continuing education to meet the next year’s continuing education requirement. The same hours may not be carried forward more than one (1) renewal cycle. If you are audited and you carried forward hours, you must submit complete documentation for both the audit period and for the previous year.

Failure to submit the required documentation may result in Board action against your right to licensure.

You should review the Board rules regarding continuing education before signing up for any continuing education offers.

Q: What is the CE requirement?  

 A: Rule 500.01. Continuing Education Requirement. Each licensee must successfully complete a minimum of six (6) hours (0.6 CEUs) of approved continuing education annually for license renewal, except that backflow assembly testers shall complete eight (8) hour refresher course every two (2) years for license renewal. Continuing education must be earned in a subject matter relevant to the field in which the license is issued. A licensee holding one (1) or more drinking water license(s) shall be required to meet the annual continuing education requirement for only one license. A licensee holding one (1) or more wastewater license(s) shall be required to meet the annual continuing education requirement for only one license. A licensee holding both drinking water and wastewater class licenses must complete a minimum of six (6) hours annually for the drinking water license plus six (6) hours annually for the wastewater license. (3-30-06).

Q: Is it approved?     

A: Water and wastewater operators may take any training they choose, however, not all operator training qualifies toward meeting the CE required for license renewal. Make sure your training decisions result in the adequate number and type of approved CEUs to meet the requirement when it’s time to renew your license.

Finding out if a training session is approved before attending may be particularly important if you are only allowed a limited amount of time away from the job for training. It is the operator’s responsibility to make sure the training session has been approved and CEUs have been assigned prior to taking the course if it will be used to meet the requirement for license renewal.

Q: Is it relevant?

A: Relevant training is education that is pertinent to or consistent with what an operator needs to understand to successfully perform a water or wastewater job. Since the purpose for adequate transport and treatment of water and wastewater is to protect human health, safety, and welfare, relevant training must include instruction that familiarizes an operator with public health issues and source water protection issues. Finally, relevant training is identifiable as only that information an operator “needs to know” which does not include information superfluous to the water or wastewater aspect of the job. For example, a class on Sexual Harassment Issues in the Workplace would be superfluous to what an individual needs to understand to knowledgeably perform or operate his/her duties as an operator of a water or wastewater transportation or treatment system.

Q: Are various venues, OK?    

A: Acceptable training courses can be taught in a variety of styles including traditional classroom training, hands on demonstration training, or alternative education classes such as correspondence and on-line courses if they have been pre-approved on a case-by-case basis.

Licensed water and wastewater operators may choose to take training through an approved form of alternative education to meet CE requirements. Alternative educational courses, more commonly known as distance learning, can be very convenient for operators living and working in remote locations or who can’t get time off work to attend classroom type training. The alternative educational arena continues to offer new and different options. Alternative education may include a written correspondence course such as a Ken Kerri course from California State University, or can be on-line or on a CD-ROM, video, satellite, etc. It is possible to get CEU credit toward certificate renewal for these classes, but each class must be approved first. The key to having a successful alternative education experience is to first submit every class to the Idaho Board for a standard review, evaluation and assignment of number and type of CEUs. Alternative education requires every course to be submitted to the Board on a case-by-case basis. The Board will let the operator know if a class has already been submitted and CEUs assigned.  

Training & Information Links: Idaho

• American Water Works Association (AWWA)
• Blue Mountain Operator Section
• Southeast Idaho Intermountain Operator Section
• Southwest Idaho Operator Section
• Subsections Web Site
• Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association(PNCWA)

Affiliated with the National Water Environment Federation

• North Idaho Operator Section
• Southeast Idaho Operator Section
• Southwest Idaho AWWA Operator Section

California State University-Sacramento, Office of Water Programs
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6025
Telephone: (916) 278-6142
Fax: (916) 278-5959
Email:  wateroffice@csus.edu
(Study materials for drinking water and wastewater licensure examinations.)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Office of Water/Wastewater Management
Outreach Program Coordinator
Boise State University
Telephone: 208-426-4751

Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Joni Johnson, PE
Phone 208-734-2173
P. O. Box 5079
Twin Falls, ID 83303

Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
State Office
1410 N. Hilton
Boise, ID 83706
Telephone: (208) 373-0502
http://www.deq.idaho.gov/assitance-resources/conference-trainings/

Idaho Environmental Health Association (IEHA)
Southeast District Health Department
Telephone: (208) 236-6160

Idaho Rural Water Association (IRWA)

6395 W. Gowen Rd,
Boise, ID 83709
Telephone: (208) 343-7001 or (toll-free) 1-800-962-3257
Fax: (208) 343-1866
E-mail: office@idahoruralwater.com; tclark@idahoruralwater.com

(Training on operation and management of drinking water and wastewater systems.)

Zarathom Online Training
Phone: 1-844-927-2846
E-mail: info@zarathom.com

Public Health Districts of Idaho

• Health District 1 (Panhandle)
• Health District 2 (North Central)
• Health District 3 (Southwest)
• Health District 4 (Central)
• Health District 5 (South Central)
• Health District 6 (Southeastern)
• Health District 7 (Eastern)

(Information and training on drinking water and wastewater issues.)

Training & Information Links for Backflow Education
HR2Inc (Northwest Backflow Educators)
4677 Windward Ct
Garden City, ID 83714
Phone: 208-869-6335.
https://www.northwestbackflow.com/

BAT & Supply
Backflow Assembly Testing & Supply LLC
Providing Backflow Tester Certification (ABPA) 
Providing Idaho Backflow Refresher training 
P.O. Box 359
Tetonia, ID 83452
855 456 2287 TOLL FREE
208 456 2287 office
208 221 6988 cell
Email: info@batandsupply.com
www.batandsupply.com
www.facebook.com/batandsupply

IAPMO/BPI
Kim Curtis
1517 Chastain Road
Johns Island, SC  29455
855-536-2800
Email: kim.curtis@iapmo.org

Please note not all courses by these providers are approved.

American Water Works Association (AWWA)
6666 W. Quincy Ave.
Denver, CO 80235
Leah Bang, CEU Coordinator

American Water College
www.americanwatercollege.org
amy@americanwatercollege.org
Association of Boards of Certification (ABC)
208 5th Street
Ames, IA 50100
Telephone: (515) 232-3623

AWWA eLearning
6666 W. Quincy Avenue
Denver, CO 80235
Leah Bang, CEU Coordinator

CEU Plan
P.O. Box 10355
Brooksville, FL 34603
(Provides a variety of online water and wastewater classes.)

Montana Environmental Training Center (METC)
2100 16th Avenue South
Great Falls, MT 59405
Telephone: (406) 771-4433 or 4432
Fax: (406) 771-4317

Montana Water Center
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
Telephone: (406) 994-7738

Utah Division of Water Quality
195 North 1950 West
P.O. Box 144870
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4870
Telephone: (801) 536-4346  
1 Attempt (At Your Pace Online)
www.AYPOTech.com
Office: (877) 724-6150

Mike Nelson Consulting LLC  
Danica Consulting & Training Services LLC
105 Nelson Drive
Churchville, PA 18966
Office: 215-354-5532
Fax: 215-354-0043
Email: mnelsonh20@aol.com
Web: www.mikenelsonh2o.com

IDAHO BOARD OF DRINKING WATER & WASTEWATER PROFESSIONALS PROVIDER GUIDELINES

A request for Board approval of classes and instructors may be made by submitting a completed Education Approval Form.  The form is applicable if you are seeking approval for both individual offerings and for conferences or meetings that will offer several classes. Course approvals are valid for two years. If you are renewing a course, please fill out the Education Approval Renewal Form.

Background

State rules require licensed water and wastewater operators to participate in approved professional growth training to keep their licenses valid. A minimum number of approved continuing education units (CEUs) must be earned during each licensure renewal cycle.

Note: Professional growth training must be pre-approved by the WWP Board for class content, instructor(s), and relevancy before classes may be conducted and before operators may count the training toward fulfillment of the professional growth requirement.

Pre-approval of class, instructor and relevancy determines the type and number of CEUs assigned to each class. CEUs must be assigned before classes are conducted so operators know the approval status and CEU status before attending classes.

Relevancy

All training must be relevant to the job. Criteria used to determine if the subject matter offered in a training class is relevant and approvable are based on the Associated Boards of Certification (ABC) “Needs to Know Criteria.” Relevant training is instruction or education that:

• Is pertinent to or consistent with what an operator needs to understand to successfully perform a job in the drinking water or wastewater field; and
• Includes instruction that familiarizes operators with public health issues and source water protection issues; and
• Is identifiable as only that information an operator “needs to know,” which does not include information superfluous to the drinking water or wastewater aspect of the job (such as sexual harassment training).

Training Subjects

Among the subject matter eligible for professional growth training are:

• Operation and maintenance of water/wastewater treatment systems and associated equipment;
• Operation and maintenance of water/wastewater transport systems (distribution and collection) and associated equipment;
• Electrical systems;
• Hydraulics;
• Chemical treatment;
• Sampling/testing requirements, biological, chemical and radionuclide;
• Disinfection;
• Water/wastewater public health issues;
• Mathematics; and
• Drinking water source water protection.

Because operators’ length of service ranges from entry level to decades spent at the same licensed class, similarly classified individuals can have very different training needs. Training providers are encouraged to consider progressive levels of training for the various types and classes of operator licensures.

Evaluation

Quality control is equally important to the students, instructors, and training providers to determine the value added from each class. Every approved class must include some form of training class/instructor evaluation/ critique, and every training provider must provide students attending a training class the opportunity to fill out an instructor/class evaluation/ critique form.

Training evaluation forms must meet certain requirements and be pre-approved. As part of the class/instructor approval application process, training providers may develop and submit an instructor/class evaluation/critique form for review and approval by the WWP Board prior to use.

If you are a training provider or are interested in obtaining approval as an instructor for a specific training class, an Application for Approval of Water or Wastewater must be completed. The Application contains several forms, all of which must be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the class.

A request for Board approval of classes and instructors may be made by submitting a completed Education Approval Form.  The form is applicable if you are seeking approval for both individual offerings and for conferences or meetings that will offer several classes.