Water and wastewater treatment technology programs prepare people to help engineers and others develop water systems. Students learn about water storage and treatment systems. They also learn to inspect, test samples, and write reports.

Are you interested in helping the environment but not interested in four years of college? Then you should consider studying water quality and wastewater treatment. Clean water is vital to human life and to the health of our environment.

In some locations it is still possible to enter this career through on-the-job training, but this is becoming the exception. It is more common to get a certificate requiring a year's training or an associate degree requiring two years of full-time study beyond high school. About 20 colleges offer the associate degree in this field. About a dozen offer certificate programs. To be a plant operator, you must pass a certification exam. In some states you must continue to take courses to keep your skills up-to-date.

The educational program teaches you principles of chemistry and biology. You need to understand these to make sense of the standards and tests for clean water and wastewater. You study how water is filtered and treated to purify it. You learn how solids are separated from wastewater, digested, and disposed of. You learn how to inspect equipment and monitor its operation. You study the network of tanks, pipes, pumps, valves, and filters used at water and wastewater plants. You learn how to calibrate laboratory equipment. You study government regulations and learn how to keep required records. Often supervised work experience is part of the training.