Intensive Training Program for Wastewater Operators in Hawaii Designed to Standardize Professional Outcomes

Abstract

The success of wastewater treatment plants is highly dependent on the knowledge, skills, and diligence of the licensed operators who work there. It is essential that operators acquire the knowledge needed to properly operate a wastewater treatment plant through a combination of classroom and on-the-job (OJT) types of training which are not just one-time but continuous throughout the career. High retirement expectations, coupled with low certification exam passing rates, have raised significant concerns regarding the sustainability of the wastewater operator profession as a whole. Therefore, a new wastewater operator training program in Hawaii is needed to address this issue. For this study, five different wastewater operator certification and training programs from around the United States were evaluated to serve as a comparative basis for creating a training program in Hawaii. The training programs for New Jersey, Georgia, New York, Texas, and California were examined. In this paper, wastewater operator training Boot Camp Programs have been created for the City and County of Honolulu (CCH), to provide a means of standardizing training for the profession of wastewater operators.