Requirements by state
Colorado water operator certification
Quick answer
How do I get certified as a water operator in Colorado?
Colorado certifies water and wastewater operators through the Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board, using its own state exam (not the ABC exam) delivered by PSI. Treatment facilities are classed A through D, distribution and collection systems are classed 1 through 4. Application is $50, the exam is $104, and certificates renew every 3 years.
See how Colorado compares to every other jurisdiction in the national comparison matrix, or check reciprocity between states if you are moving.
- Create a CCWP Portal account and meet the eligibility requirements for the exam you are sitting for (minimum education, minimum documented experience or an approved training substitution, and completion of the free Mandatory Regulatory Training).
- Initiate your application in the CCWP Portal and pay the $50 non-refundable application fee.
- Once approved, schedule and pay $104 to PSI, then sit the exam at a PSI test center or by remote proctoring.
- Renew every 3 years by completing continuing-education training units that scale with your certificate level.
Water treatment
- O , Facility exempt from a treatment operator requirement
- D , Entry-level treatment certificate
- C
- B
- A , Highest treatment classification
- Exam
- State-authored exam set by the Board (not the ABC standardized exam), delivered through PSI test centers or remote proctoring
- Application / certification fee
- $50, paid in the CCWP Portal when the application is initiated
- Exam fee
- $104, paid to PSI when the exam is scheduled
- Continuing education
- Continuing-education training units scaled to certificate level within each 3-year renewal, roughly 12 hours at the lowest class up to 30 hours at the highest
- Renewal cycle
- 3 years
- Reciprocity
- No automatic reciprocity. Out-of-state operators apply for Colorado certification by equivalency review under Board Policy 13-1 (Applicants Holding Certificates From Other Certifying Entities).
Facility classification and exam eligibility sit in Regulation 100, administered by the Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board.
Water distribution
- 0 , Facility exempt from a distribution operator requirement
- 1 , Entry-level distribution certificate
- 2
- 3
- 4 , Highest distribution classification
- Exam
- State-authored exam set by the Board (not the ABC standardized exam), delivered through PSI test centers or remote proctoring
- Application / certification fee
- $50, paid in the CCWP Portal when the application is initiated
- Exam fee
- $104, paid to PSI when the exam is scheduled
- Continuing education
- Continuing-education training units scaled to certificate level within each 3-year renewal, roughly 12 hours at the lowest class up to 30 hours at the highest
- Renewal cycle
- 3 years
- Reciprocity
- No automatic reciprocity. Out-of-state operators apply for Colorado certification by equivalency review under Board Policy 13-1 (Applicants Holding Certificates From Other Certifying Entities).
Distribution systems use a numeric 1 to 4 scale, separate from the A to D letter scale used for treatment plants.
Wastewater treatment
- O , Facility exempt from a treatment operator requirement
- D , Entry-level treatment certificate
- C
- B
- A , Highest treatment classification, also the substitution level the Board can accept for a predominantly-biological industrial wastewater facility
- I- , Industrial wastewater treatment prefix, layered onto the A to D scale for industrial facilities
- Exam
- State-authored exam set by the Board (not the ABC standardized exam), delivered through PSI test centers or remote proctoring
- Application / certification fee
- $50, paid in the CCWP Portal when the application is initiated
- Exam fee
- $104, paid to PSI when the exam is scheduled
- Continuing education
- Continuing-education training units scaled to certificate level within each 3-year renewal, roughly 12 hours at the lowest class up to 30 hours at the highest
- Renewal cycle
- 3 years
- Reciprocity
- No automatic reciprocity. Out-of-state operators apply for Colorado certification by equivalency review under Board Policy 13-1 (Applicants Holding Certificates From Other Certifying Entities).
Predominantly-biological industrial wastewater facilities can request Board approval to use a Class A domestic wastewater operator instead of an industrial-classed one; see the Board fact sheet linked from the facility classification page.
Wastewater collection
- 0 , Facility exempt from a collection operator requirement
- 1 , Entry-level collection certificate
- 2
- 3
- 4 , Highest collection classification
- Exam
- State-authored exam set by the Board (not the ABC standardized exam), delivered through PSI test centers or remote proctoring
- Application / certification fee
- $50, paid in the CCWP Portal when the application is initiated
- Exam fee
- $104, paid to PSI when the exam is scheduled
- Continuing education
- Continuing-education training units scaled to certificate level within each 3-year renewal, roughly 12 hours at the lowest class up to 30 hours at the highest
- Renewal cycle
- 3 years
- Reciprocity
- No automatic reciprocity. Out-of-state operators apply for Colorado certification by equivalency review under Board Policy 13-1 (Applicants Holding Certificates From Other Certifying Entities).
Regulation 100's 2018 update added a 2-step classification process for collection systems: population first, then complicating factors such as large lift stations.
Colorado runs one combined certification system for water and wastewater operators through the Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board, a body housed inside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The Board sets facility classification and exam content in Regulation 100 and contracts day-to-day administration, including the CCWP Portal and training-unit tracking, to Colorado Certified Water Professionals (CCWP).
Classes are letters for treatment, numbers for distribution and collection
Colorado does not use the ABC-standardized exam that many states share. Every exam is written and owned by the Board, then delivered through PSI, either at a physical test center or remotely proctored under PSI’s webcam and browser requirements. Treatment plants, whether drinking water or wastewater, are classified O (exempt) through A (highest). Distribution and collection systems use a separate 0 (exempt) through 4 (highest) numeric scale. An operator in responsible charge (ORC) must hold a certificate at or above the classification of the facility, and an owner who allows a facility to operate without a correctly certified ORC is subject to a $300-per-day civil penalty under Regulation 100.
Industrial wastewater treatment facilities that rely mostly on biological treatment can ask the Board to accept a Class A domestic wastewater operator as the ORC instead of requiring the separate industrial-prefixed classification, a narrow substitution meant for facilities whose process looks like a municipal plant even though the water entering it is industrial.
Getting certified
The path runs through the CCWP Portal: create an account to get an Operator ID, log documented experience or an approved training substitution and your minimum education, complete the free Mandatory Regulatory Training (MRT) course Colorado offers for both drinking water/distribution and wastewater/industrial/collection operators, then initiate an application and pay the $50 non-refundable application fee. Once the application is approved, you create a PSI account and pay $104 to schedule the exam itself. There is no combined fee: the $50 goes to the state through the Portal, the $104 goes to PSI separately when you book the test.
Renewal and continuing education
Certificates renew every 3 years. The continuing-education load scales with class level rather than staying flat: lower classes need roughly 12 hours of approved training per renewal cycle, and the highest classes need roughly 30 hours. Approved courses issue training units (TUs) directly into an operator’s CCWP Portal account, and each completed regulatory course stays valid toward eligibility for 3 years.
Moving to Colorado from another state
Colorado has no blanket, automatic reciprocity agreement with any other state. An out-of-state certified operator applies for Colorado certification under Board Policy 13-1, which governs applicants holding certificates from other certifying entities: the Board reviews the out-of-state credential for equivalency rather than accepting it outright, so the process is closer to an individualized transfer review than a simple license swap.