Illinois wastewater operator continuing education
These courses are approved for continuing education credit in Illinois. Study online at your own pace, pass the quiz, and download your certificate straight away.
Renewing soon? Get a reminder before your window opens.
Illinois Effluent Standards: Which Rung, Why
Enable Illinois wastewater operators to understand the state’s effluent standards framework, how plant classification affects effluent limits, and how to interpret and apply these standards for their facility’s permit compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseTrickling Filter Arm Speed and Recirculation
To equip Class 3 wastewater operators with a clear understanding of trickling filter arm speed control and recirculation management under varying operational conditions, informed by regulatory standards and real-world case studies, enabling informed operator decisions to optimize treatment while avoiding common errors.
Approved in Illinois
View courseReading Your NPDES Permit: Rows and Units
Equip wastewater operators with the skills to accurately read, interpret, and apply the limits, units, and reporting requirements presented in typical NPDES permits, emphasizing the importance of understanding rows, averaging units, load calculations, and regulatory distinctions to ensure facility compliance and effective monitoring.
Approved in Illinois
View courseHydraulic vs Organic Capacity
Hydraulic vs Organic Capacity: Understanding Your Plant's Design Limits Enable operators to accurately interpret their plant's design basis, distinguish between hydraulic and organic capacity, and make informed operational decisions to optimize plant performance and comply with regulatory expectations.
Approved in Illinois
View courseHazard Communication at a Treatment Plant
To equip wastewater treatment plant operators with a clear, practical understanding of Hazard Communication (HazCom) requirements, the scope and limitations of chemical and biological hazard regulations, effective use of Safety Data Sheets (SDS), labeling protocols, and the application of personal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory protection to maintain a safe work environment.
Approved in Illinois
View courseActivated Sludge: Advanced Process Control
To deepen operators' understanding of activated sludge process control focusing on the key operational lever of wasting rate and its impact on sludge age and F/M ratio, common process failures such as filamentous bulking, and the practical decision-making needed to diagnose and correct process issues upstream of the clarifier.
Approved in Illinois
View coursePrimary Clarifiers: Withdrawal Rate and Septicity
To provide wastewater operators with a practical understanding of primary clarifier operation focusing on sludge withdrawal rate, septicity risks, and operational decision-making to optimize clarifier performance and protect downstream processes.
Approved in Illinois
View courseDMR Arithmetic: Loads, Removal and the Flow Term
Equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of discharge monitoring report (DMR) arithmetic related to loads, percent removal calculation, and flow measurement conventions, particularly in the context of Illinois NPDES permits. Enable operators to avoid common mistakes, apply correct calculations, recognize underlying regulatory and guidance distinctions, and make informed compliance decisions.
Approved in Illinois
View courseTreatment Process Fundamentals
To equip wastewater operators with comprehensive understanding of key treatment process fundamentals—including preliminary treatment, primary clarification, activated sludge, secondary clarification, disinfection, and nitrification/nutrient control—for improved operational decision-making and regulatory compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseHeadworks: What Gets Past Screens and Grit
To equip wastewater treatment plant operators with a clear understanding of the function, challenges, and downstream impacts of headworks screening and grit removal processes to improve operational decisions and plant asset protection.
Approved in Illinois
View courseClarifier Operation and Troubleshooting
To equip wastewater operators with deep understanding and practical skills to operate and troubleshoot primary and secondary clarifiers effectively, preventing common mistakes that lead to regulatory noncompliance and process upsets.
Approved in Illinois
View courseRising Sludge or Bulking: Telling Them Apart
To equip wastewater treatment operators with the knowledge and skills to accurately differentiate between rising sludge and bulking phenomena in secondary clarifiers, and to take proper corrective action to maintain compliant effluent quality.
Approved in Illinois
View courseClarifier Weirs: Loading, Level and Blocks
This lesson equips operators with practical knowledge on clarifier effluent weir loading, level monitoring, and troubleshooting weir block issues to optimize clarifier performance, prevent solids carryover, and maintain regulatory compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseCan You Still Reach It? Shutoffs, Air and Intakes
To equip wastewater operators with critical knowledge and practical skills to evaluate and improve emergency response plans, focusing on the accessibility of shutoffs, air intake design, and safety equipment placement during hazardous chemical releases.
Approved in Illinois
View coursePermit-Required Confined Space Entry
To equip wastewater operators with essential knowledge and decision-making skills to safely perform permit-required confined space entries, prevent fatalities particularly of would-be rescuers, understand atmospheric hazards (especially hydrogen sulfide), regulatory compliance requirements, and proper rescue planning.
Approved in Illinois
View courseIntroduction to Wastewater: Sources, Treatment
A foundational course for wastewater operators covering sources, treatment processes, permits, and safety.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWastewater Operator Safety
Equip wastewater operators with critical knowledge and decision-making skills to safely recognize, evaluate, and control hazards associated with confined spaces, hazardous atmospheres including hydrogen sulfide, hazardous energy control (LOTO), chemical and biological hazards, proper PPE selection, and emergency response. Emphasizes industry best practices and reinforces compliance with OSHA standards to prevent fatalities, particularly those involving rescue attempts in confined spaces.
Approved
DetailsInfiltration or Inflow: Telling Them Apart
To enable wastewater treatment operators to accurately distinguish between infiltration and inflow in wet weather conditions, understand their different impacts and remedies, interpret flow hydrographs correctly, and apply practical decision-making at the headworks to optimize plant operation and compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWhy an Ammonia Limit Exists: pH and Temp
To equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of why ammonia limits exist in effluent regulations, emphasizing the chemical and biological roles of pH and temperature on ammonia toxicity, the regulatory framework governing these limits in Illinois, and practical decision-making implications for plant operations.
Approved in Illinois
View courseLockout/Tagout for Pumps, Blowers and Mixers
To equip wastewater operators with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to safely implement Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures on pumps, blowers, mixers, and related equipment, ensuring compliance with OSHA requirements and preventing hazardous energy incidents.
Approved in Illinois
View courseThe Flow Number: Contact Time and the Storm DMR
To equip wastewater treatment operators with a clear understanding of flow measurement challenges during wet weather events, the concept of contact time versus detention time, and best wet weather operating practices focusing on maintaining disinfection and accurate flow data for regulatory compliance, especially in Illinois.
Approved in Illinois
View coursePond Maintenance: Levees, Weeds and Burrows
To equip wastewater operators with practical knowledge about the structural maintenance challenges of wastewater stabilization ponds, focusing on levee integrity, weed control, and burrows, clarifying operator responsibilities versus design constraints, and promoting proactive maintenance to prevent costly failures.
Approved in Illinois
View courseAfter the Filter: Clarifier, Chlorine and Sludge
To equip wastewater operators with practical knowledge about the operation and regulatory context of clarifiers, chlorine disinfection, and sludge handling specific to fixed-film biological treatment systems, emphasizing the distinctions from activated sludge processes, common operational challenges, and decision-making under relevant standards.
Approved in Illinois
View courseChemical Phosphorus Removal: Feed, Floc and Sludge
To equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills relevant to the chemical phosphorus removal process, focusing on chemical feed systems, floc formation, sludge production, operational challenges, and impacts on downstream processes.
Approved in Illinois
View courseHow Illinois Proves a Violation: Averaging
To equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of how Illinois wastewater permits define and prove effluent violations using averaging periods and multipliers, enabling correct interpretation of permit limits, proper operator decisions, and adherence to regulatory compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseSecondary Clarifier Blanket and RAS Control
To enable wastewater operators to effectively control the secondary clarifier blanket and Return Activated Sludge (RAS) rate to ensure optimal clarifier performance, meet design standards, and comply with regulatory requirements.
Approved in Illinois
View courseActivated Sludge Process Control
To equip wastewater operators with a thorough understanding of activated sludge process control, emphasizing operational levers, common pitfalls, troubleshooting techniques, and regulatory compliance to improve plant performance and effluent quality.
Approved in Illinois
View courseSpill Response Without Causing a Second Release
Equip wastewater operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills to effectively respond to chemical and sewage spills while preventing secondary contaminations, ensuring regulatory compliance, and promoting safety.
Approved
DetailsProtecting the Process Through a Peak Flow
Equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and skills to protect the biological and hydraulic processes during peak wet weather flows by understanding clarifier limits, recognizing operational impacts of solids washout, and effectively deploying process protection measures and decision-making under wet weather stress.
Approved in Illinois
View courseChlorine Release: Detection, Kit and First Moves
To equip wastewater operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills to safely detect chlorine leaks, correctly use emergency kits, and execute first response actions to minimize harm to personnel and facility.
Approved in Illinois
View courseStandby Power: Proved Under Load, or Not Proved
To equip wastewater operators with the knowledge and skills to understand the importance of properly testing standby power systems under load, recognize common failure modes, and apply practical decision-making in maintaining plant continuity during power outages.
Approved in Illinois
View courseLimits That Move: Seasons, Floors and Bands
Equip wastewater operators with comprehensive, practical understanding of how to interpret and report on effluent limits that change by season, include minimum (floor) values, or bands, using real Illinois NPDES permit examples to improve accuracy in Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs).
Approved in Illinois
View courseHydrogen Sulfide: Four Numbers, One Ceiling
To equip wastewater operators with a thorough understanding of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) hazards, exposure limits, and safe operating practices to recognize, prevent, and respond effectively to H2S risks in wastewater environments.
Approved
DetailsNitrification: Alkalinity, Cold and Sludge Age
To equip wastewater treatment plant operators with a clear understanding of the critical factors affecting nitrification—alkalinity consumption, cold weather effects, and sludge age—and to provide practical guidance to maintain effective nitrification performance under varying conditions.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWet Weather Operations for Treatment Operators
Equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills for managing infiltration and inflow, handling peak flows at the headworks, protecting biological treatment processes during wet weather, and ensuring compliance through surges.
Approved in Illinois
View courseDisinfection CT: Contact Time Is Not Volume/Flow
To correct common misconceptions about disinfection contact time (CT) by demonstrating that contact time is governed by actual water residence time and mixing behavior, not simply nominal tank volume divided by flow rate, and to provide operators with practical knowledge to accurately assess and manage disinfection performance to ensure regulatory compliance and protect public health.
Approved in Illinois
View courseStorm Modes: What To Switch and When It Is Late
Equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills to manage wet weather flows effectively at the headworks, emphasizing treatment plant operational modes, timing of actions, and common pitfalls.
Approved in Illinois
View courseChemical Delivery and Incompatible Storage
Equip wastewater operators with the critical knowledge and skills to safely manage chemical deliveries and incompatible chemical storage, recognize and prevent hazardous chemical reactions, and respond effectively to emergencies involving chemical mishandling or accidental releases.
Approved in Illinois
View courseThe Four Design Flows and What Your Permit Uses
To equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of the four legally defined design flows per Illinois regulations, how these flows relate to their plant's hydraulic and organic loading capacities, and how their permits use these flows for compliance calculations. This course aims to correct common operator misconceptions and support confident permit interpretation and operational decision-making.
Approved in Illinois
View courseThe Baffle That Works and the One That Does Not
To equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills regarding wet weather impacts on clarifier operation, emphasizing the role of baffles and clarifier capacity limits to maintain biological treatment efficacy during peak flows.
Approved in Illinois
View courseLagoon Effluent: Flow, Coliform and Chemicals
To equip wastewater operators who oversee lagoon treatment systems with practical understanding of lagoon effluent characteristics, measurement nuances for flow and coliforms, chemical addition challenges, and decision-making scenarios to optimize operation and regulatory compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseSolids in the Effluent: Which Failure Is It?
Enable wastewater treatment operators to accurately diagnose different failure modes causing solids in the effluent during wet-weather events and apply appropriate operational decisions, leveraging plant-specific strategies and understanding regulatory contexts.
Approved in Illinois
View courseReading Your NPDES Permit: What It Actually Asks
Equip wastewater operators to accurately interpret the numeric and textual requirements in their NPDES permits, focusing on understanding permit limits, reporting requirements, and the procedural context of Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs).
Approved in Illinois
View courseFlow Splitting: Why One Tank Fails First
To enable wastewater operators to recognize, diagnose, and manage unequal flow splitting to parallel treatment tanks, understand the role of flow distribution structures and weirs, and apply corrective measures effectively to prevent premature failure of a tank.
Approved in Illinois
View courseLagoons: What You Control and What You Inherit
To equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of lagoon systems focusing on distinguishing operator-controlled variables from inherited design features and constraints, emphasizing practical operational levers, regulatory context, common pitfalls, and maintaining system integrity for compliance and performance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseConfined Space Rescue: Why Rescuers Die Too
To equip wastewater operators with critical awareness of confined-space hazards, focusing on the reasons why rescuers are often casualties themselves, and to instill compliant, practical non-entry rescue procedures to prevent fatalities.
Approved
DetailsFilter Media: Depth, Grading and BOD Credit
Equip wastewater operators with a thorough understanding of filter media design requirements, biological treatment credit, operational control, and typical failure modes specifically for fixed-film biological treatment processes such as trickling filters and rotating biological contactors (RBCs), emphasizing Illinois regulatory context with insights from other authoritative sources.
Approved in Illinois
View coursePond Upsets: Low DO, Odor and Turnover
To equip wastewater operators with practical understanding of facultative pond operation, focusing on common upsets—low dissolved oxygen (DO), odor episodes, and pond turnover phenomena—and enable safe, effective field decisions that respect design limitations and regulatory boundaries.
Approved in Illinois
View courseFilamentous Bulking: Cause, Cure and Mistakes
To equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of filamentous bulking, its causes, how to effectively address it, avoid common mistakes, and make informed operational decisions to maintain optimal plant performance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWhy Your Plant Has the Limits It Has
To enable wastewater operators to understand the reasons behind their plant's effluent limits by exploring the regulatory framework, permit components, treatment trains, and certification requirements, thereby empowering them to make informed operational decisions and ensure compliance.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWet Weather at the Headworks: Grit and Screens
Equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills for effective wet weather operation at the headworks, focusing on grit removal and screens to optimize treatment performance and compliance during storm events.
Approved in Illinois
View courseRBCs: Shaft Weight, Film Control and Failure
Equip wastewater operators with practical knowledge of Rotating Biological Contactors (RBCs) focusing on shaft mechanical load issues, film thickness control, operational failure modes, and state-specific regulatory demands to ensure safe and effective plant operation.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWriting the Wet Weather Operating Plan
Provide wastewater treatment operators with the knowledge and skills to effectively develop and implement a Wet Weather Operating Plan focused on treatment processes, with emphasis on regulatory compliance, practical operating decisions, and plant-specific considerations.
Approved in Illinois
View courseWasting Rate, Sludge Age and the F/M Lever
Wasting Rate, Sludge Age, and the F/M Lever in Activated Sludge Process Control To equip wastewater treatment operators with practical knowledge and decision-making skills on controlling activated sludge processes through managing wasting rate, understanding sludge age (SRT/MCRT), and applying the Food-to-Microorganism (F/M) ratio lever, enabling improved plant stability and compliance with design and permit requirements.
Approved in Illinois
View courseCalibration Records and the Flows Nobody Logs
Equip wastewater operators with a clear understanding of calibration record requirements, the distinction between instrument calibration and installation properties, and awareness of critical unlogged flows impacting process control, to improve compliance, record-keeping accuracy, and operational decision-making.
Approved in Illinois
View courseBypass and Upset: The Defence You Must Prove
Equip wastewater treatment operators with a clear understanding of regulatory requirements, operator responsibilities, and best practices surrounding bypass and upset events during wet weather, emphasizing the affirmative defence and operational decisions that impact compliance and plant status.
Approved in Illinois
View courseRespirators: Hazard Assessment and IDLH
To equip wastewater operators with knowledge and practical skills to safely assess respiratory hazards, identify IDLH atmospheres, select and use appropriate respirators, and apply safe operating practices to prevent respiratory incidents in wastewater operations.
Approved in Illinois
View courseOther states
We publish a page for every state so you can see exactly where each course stands. Browse the full catalogue.