Sec.25-32-9. Qualifications for certified water treatment operators

(a) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (f) of this section, every community water system and every non-transient non-community water system treatment plant shall have at least one operator who is certified at the plant's class or higher and who shall be designated by the system as the chief operator. The chief operator shall have direct responsible charge of the plant. In the event that the chief operator is not available, the system shall place an operator, who is certified at the plant's class or higher, in direct responsible charge to serve in the interim. All operators in direct responsible charge and any operators making process control/system integrity decisions about water quality or quantity, that affect public health, shall be certified at the plant's class or higher or certified as a conditional or provisional operator.

(b) To become certified as a water treatment plant operator a person must demonstrate the ability to responsibly operate a plant of the given classification applied for (I, II, III, IV) by passing a written examination. To qualify to take the examination, a person shall submit an application to the Department on a form provided by the Department.

(c) Minimum education and experience requirements to qualify for the written examination:

Class	Education (yrs.)	Experience in class (yrs.)
I	12	1
II	12	2
III	12	3
IV	12	4

The minimum education requirement shall be met by either a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma. Any amount of educational training beyond high school (12 years) in a field of study applicable to water treatment may be substituted for an equal amount of the experience requirement; however, one year of experience is, for purposes of this subsection, required for all classes. Experience in class means experience gained in operating a particular class plant or the next lower class providing that the operator has direct responsible charge.

(d) Examination requirement for certification — A written examination administered by the Department will be given to qualifying operator candidates. The examination will test the candidate's ability to responsibly operate a plant of the given classification applied for (I, II, III, IV). A passing score will be required for certification.

(e) Existing operators — If an operator having direct responsible charge of a plant as of February 9, 1989 is not certified, the department may certify that operator as a limited operator upon presentation of an application by the system by February 9, 1990. This certification is only granted for a specific plant and cannot be transferred to another plant, system or individual. A limited operator cannot be designated as a chief operator but can serve in direct responsible charge. If an operator has had direct responsible charge of a non-transient non-community water system water treatment plant for at least the one year prior to the effective date of the most recent revisions of sections 25-32-7a to 25-32-14, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and is not certified, the Department may certify that operator as a conditional operator upon presentation of an application by the system within one year of the effective date of the most recent revisions of sections 25-32-7a to 25-32-14, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. This certification is only granted for a specific plant and cannot be transferred to another plant, system or individual. The conditional certification is no longer valid if the plant classification changes to a higher level. A conditional operator shall meet all renewal requirements including training hour requirements for the operator class equal to the classification of the specific plant. The Department may certify a maximum of two conditional operators per non-transient non-community water system. A conditional operator can perform the functions of a certified operator.

(f) Provisional operators — If a system does not have a qualified operator as outlined in Section 25-32-9(a) and if the department determines that this is due to reasons beyond the system's control, the Department may certify an operator as a provisional operator. The system must submit a request in writing, which indicates the reasons for not having a qualified operator and include an application. The provisional operator certificate would only be granted for a given plant and only be given to an operator who could qualify to take the appropriate class exam within 2 years. A provisional operator can perform the functions of a certified operator.

(g) Operator-in-training — A person who has received either a certificate of achievement in water management from a Connecticut Community-Technical College, or an equivalent as determined by the Department, may apply to take any class examination. After successful completion of the examination, the person will be an operator-in-training. After the operator-in-training has completed the education and experience requirements of the appropriate class, he may apply to become a certified operator.

(Effective February 9, 1989; Amended July 26, 2001)