From Hugh Logan, CWEA SWRCB Advisory Committee Representative
The State Water Resources Control Board’s Advisory Committee, comprised of nine members from various stakeholder and industry groups, provides feedback to the Office of Operator Certification on regulation updates, reviews operator exams, and gives suggestions for continuing improvement. Hugh Logan, of the South Bayside System Authority, and Chris Berch, of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, represent CWEA.
The State Office of Operator Certification (OOC) Staff hosted the Advisory Committee July 21st in Sacramento and presented numerous items for discussion. Read more
CWEA’s ECI exam is the next up for analysis to make sure appropriate Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (known as KSAs in the certification business) will continue to be tested. To do that, we need to hear from you: the people who do all the managing and mentoring in your field. As a leader in your profession, you can help by participating in the project and/or by recruiting qualified and talented staff members.
From November 2010 through June 2011, we will need at least 12 volunteers from the environmental compliance inspector field to review and provide feedback on our current job analysis and test specifications. You need to be a certificate holder in order to participate. You should expect to spend 6-30 hours in up to five face-to-face meetings (though you can attend only one face-to-face meeting if that is all your schedule allows–we’re flexible!)
If you’re interested, please fill out the volunteer application form and email it to Vivien Malig.
Please join the Technical Certification Program Executive Committee and CWEA staff to discuss the past, present and future of CWEA’s certification program over pizza and refreshments.
We hope to have at least one member from each local section present. Local section presidents and TCP chairs are highly encouraged to attend.
The meeting will be held at Hero’s Sports Lounge and Pizza Co. one block away from the DoubleTree Hotel. The meeting details are below. We hope to see you there!
Location: Hero’s Sports Lounge and Pizza Co.
Address: 821 L St., Modesto, CA 95351
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
For more information, please email Certification Manger, Vivien Malig at vmalig@cwea.org.
Every five years CWEA validates all certification vocations to ensure the test content is still pertinent to current industry practices. By revalidating our certification tests, we guarantee to our certificate holders that their credentials are meaningful and relevant to their jobs. Our commitment to our business and community stakeholders is just as important, with increasing awareness and regulations intended to make certain we all do our part to keep our water resources clean. As a certifying body it is essential for CWEA to evolve along with the water environment and the rulemaking that protects it.
Everyone can- and should- get involved in this mission-critical process. We need your help! As industry professionals, you are invited to share your knowledge from the field as a volunteer subject matter expert in your vocation. Below is the revalidation schedule. Please email Certification Manager, Vivien Malig if you would like more information on becoming a subject matter expert.
- 2009-10: Collection System Maintenance (I-IV)
- 2010-11: Environmental Compliance Inspector (I-IV) AND Biosolid Land Application Management (I)
- 2011-12: Industrial Waste Treatment Plant Operator (I-III) AND Plant Maintenance (I)
- 2012-13: Electrical/Instrumentation Technology (II-IV)
- 2013-14: Mechanical Technology (II-IV)
- 2014-15: Laboratory Analyst (I-IV)
The CWEA Certification Preparation Task Force is currently recruiting volunteers from the Collection System Maintenance field to review and update the CWEA Technical Certification Program Collection System Maintenance Study Guides, Grades 1— 4.
The project consists of updating Section 3 (Skill Sets) and Section 5 (Diagnostic Test) for each Study Guide, based upon the recently updated Knowledge Domains (formerly referred to as “KSAs – Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities”) list, provided by the C.S.M. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from the CWEA Technical Certification Committee.
Download the CSM Study Guides to review scope of work by clicking links below:
Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4
This is a short-term commitment, to be completed by September 1, 2010.
This project is critically important to CWEA and to Collection System Maintenance Certification Candidates who depend upon the Study Guides to assist them with their Certification study efforts.
Interested volunteers are encouraged to participate in the next Certification Preparation Task Force Conference Call Meeting on Wednesday July 28, 2010 at Noon — 1 PM. Email contact below for call number.
Want to assist with this project, but are not able to attend the conference call?
Please contact Joanna De Sa by email at: JDeSa@ci.sunnyvale.ca.us
It’s that time again for the U.S. Census and CWEA is joining in on the surveying. We are conducting a research project and we’re inviting all Collection System Maintenance grade 3 and 4 certificate-holders to participate. In the next couple of weeks, all CSM 3 and 4 certificate-holders will receive an email request to complete a short online survey. The survey is part of a CSM job analysis project and your feedback is vital to its success.
During the survey you are asked to rate the necessary tasks performed by the wastewater collection technologists by importance and frequency. These necessary tasks are known as Essential Duties.
Because of the comprehensive scope of this job analysis, we ask that half of the CSM 3 and 4 CWEA certificate-holder population rate the importance and frequency of the essential duties of two of the four certification grade levels, while the other half rate the essential duties of the remaining two. Our goal is to validate the CWEA certification tests by today’s industry job standards. The survey will only take 25 minutes to complete.
The survey will be in your inbox in the next couple of weeks. We look forward to your survey responses.
Monday, March 22 – Playa Del Rey
Tuesday, March 23 – San Ramon
Register by Monday, March 8 for the Member Early Bird Discounted Rate – $275
Attendees will receive a copy of Industrial Water Quality, 4th Edition, by W.W Eckenfelder, Jr., D.L Ford and A.J. Englande, McGraw Hill, 2009 – a $160 value! This book is a reputable text and will serve as a valuable reference guide. Topics covered in the text include: Biological wastewater treatment process, reverse osmosis and membrane biological processes, the latest advances in water reuse and much more! Read more
CWEA 2010 Annual Conference
The TCP Committee will be holding a meeting at AC10 in Sacramento, CA. The agenda will include an update of the CSM revalidation status and future program projects, a discussion about the local sections TCP chair job roles, and also announce the incoming TCP Executive Committee along with new nominations for vacant positions. Please come and join the discussion. Continental breakfast will be provided. Read more
At the end of 2009, 12 Collection System Maintenance volunteer vocationalists teamed up with CWEA’s certification staff to begin the long process of revalidating the collection maintenance tests. The group consisting of CWEA certificate holders of all grade levels, from different agency sizes formed to review and revise the test content areas (essential duties) to reflect the current job practice of today’s sewer worker.
As the group approaches the last step of revising the test areas, feedback from all CWEA CSM certificate holders will be needed to review and rate each essential duty. A survey will be sent by email to all CSM certificate holders to help weigh the essential duty by importance and frequency.
Ultimately, the essential duties are what will guide the project volunteers and CWEA staff in validating the relevancy of the test questions that will be in each of the certification grade level. If you are a sewer worker, don’t miss this opportunity to share your insight with CWEA on how you perform your day-to-day duties. The survey should land in your inbox by March 2010.
We’re here to help – CWEA offers several resources for certification info, click read more…
Certification for Wastewater Professionals
Technical Certification Exam registration deadline for the spring test window (April 1 – June 30, 2010) is February 28, 2010. All complete applications must be received in our office and postmarked on February 28. Late applications will automatically be entered into the summer test window (July 1 – September 30, 2010). Click here for applications.
| Test Windows | Application Deadline | Test Dates |
| Spring | February 28 | April 1 through June 30 |
| Summer | May 30 | July 1 through September 30 |
| Fall | August 31 | October 1 through December 31 |
| Winter | November 30 | January 1 through March 31 |
The April through June application deadline is approaching soon, submit your application to get your new certification this spring.
