Water & Wastewater Operator Certification in South Dakota

Your path to certified in South Dakota

1. One program, both sides. South Dakota certifies water and wastewater operators through the Board of Operator Certification, staffed by DANR's Office of Water, under one rule chapter (ARSD 74:21:02). The program lives inside the Drinking Water Program but certifies wastewater operators too.
2. Four categories, Class I to IV. Wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, water distribution, and water treatment each run Class I (smallest) up to Class IV (most complex), with treatment plants graded on a points system and distribution and collection by population.
3. Small-system on-ramps. A Small Water Treatment System certificate covers a tiny groundwater system that only chlorinates, and a Stabilization Pond certificate covers a lagoon, each with a shorter 50-question exam; a non-treating system under 500 people needs only a water distribution certificate.
4. Test on the national exam. South Dakota uses the ABC exam, proctored by the state, with a $60 fee and a 70 percent pass mark, and you can sit it before you finish your experience as long as you qualify within a year.
5. Renewal is free. Certificates renew automatically every February as long as you stay in the field and your continuing education is current, with the hours measured over a rolling three years.

The exam is national, with a formula sheet. Drill it free in the practice tool before you register.

Drinking water: South Dakota Dept of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), Office of Water (Board of Operator Certification) program page

Who runs certification here

South Dakota runs one program for both disciplines, out of the Board of Operator Certification, which is staffed by DANR's Office of Water and seated in the Drinking Water Program. One statute (chapter 34A-3) and one rule chapter (74:21:02) govern certification across all four operator categories. A naming note worth knowing: DANR itself is recent, formed in 2021 by merging the former agriculture and environment departments, so older links under the environment department now redirect to DANR. And although wastewater certification is administratively housed in the Drinking Water Program, it is genuinely one unified program, not a split. DANR also holds Safe Drinking Water Act primacy and runs the NPDES wastewater discharge program.

The grades and what they cover

The rule sorts systems into four categories, listed wastewater-first: wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, water distribution, and water treatment. Each runs Class I through IV, where Class IV is the most complex, the opposite direction from the letter states. Treatment plants are graded on a points system that scores their processes, while distribution and collection are graded by the population they serve, and the operator in direct charge holds a certificate at least equal to the system's class. Two restricted certificates ease the smallest systems in: a Small Water Treatment System certificate for a groundwater system whose only treatment is chlorination, and a Stabilization Pond certificate for a lagoon, each tested with a shorter exam. A water system under 500 people that does not treat at all needs only a water distribution certificate. No operator-in-training tier exists, and you can even sit an exam before meeting the experience, though the certificate issues only once you qualify within the year.

The exam: logistics, not cramming

South Dakota uses the standardized exam from the Association of Boards of Certification, proctored by the state's Board of Operator Certification rather than a commercial test center. The fee is a flat $60, payable to the department, and you pass at 70 percent. The standard exam carries 110 questions but is scored on 100, since ten are unscored pilot items, while the small-system exams (the chlorination-only and lagoon certificates) run 50 questions. You pre-register at least two weeks ahead, sit a three-hour session in which you can take more than one exam, and bring only a simple calculator.

For what the exams cover by grade, the what's on the exam guide is the place to start.

Keeping it current (renewal)

South Dakota makes renewal easy in one respect and strict in another. Every certificate renews on February 1, and there is no renewal fee at all; renewal is automatic as long as you remain in the water or wastewater field and your continuing education is current. The hours run on a three-year basis and scale with what you hold: 10 hours for a single lower-class certificate, 20 for a single upper-class one, and more for operators carrying several. The strict part is disuse, in that a certificate not renewed for two straight years becomes non-renewable, and leaving the field allows only two renewals before the certificate is revoked, with re-examination the only way back.

Training and continuing education

South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems is the small-system anchor, a primary source of certification-review classes and continuing-education hours, with on-site technical help for water and wastewater systems, source-water protection, and an apprenticeship, from Madison. The South Dakota Section of AWWA and the state water and wastewater associations round out the training options, and the department lists the rural water association among its approved providers. Hours can come from any of them, gathered across the three-year cycle.

Reciprocity

South Dakota can issue a certificate at an equivalent grade without an exam to an operator certified in another state, a foreign country, or by the national certification body, as long as the requirements behind that certificate are no lower than South Dakota's and the issuing state extends the same courtesy to South Dakota operators. You submit a copy of your certificate, a $60 fee, and the reciprocity application, and the Board acts on it at one of its twice-yearly meetings.

Where to get help (small systems)

• South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems, sdarws.com: certification-review classes, continuing education, on-site technical assistance, and an apprenticeship, from Madison.
• The Small Water Treatment System and Stabilization Pond certificates are the lighter on-ramps for the smallest groundwater and lagoon systems.
• DANR's operator-certification pages carry the categories, the points classification, fees, and the continuing-education chart.
• The South Dakota Section of AWWA and the state associations supply much of the approved training.

Running a system in South Dakota

The oversight and funding picture for managers and boards.

Rate regulation. South Dakota does not regulate water or sewer rates at the state level. The Public Utilities Commission oversees only investor-owned electric, natural gas, and telephone utilities; water and sewer rates are set locally, by a municipal council or a district or cooperative board.

Funding. DANR administers both revolving funds, the drinking water fund and the clean water fund, while the actual loans are awarded by the Board of Water and Natural Resources, which doubles as the board of the statewide conservancy district.

Mutual aid. South Dakota participates in the national WARN framework for utilities helping utilities after a flood, blizzard, or other emergency. Sign the agreement before the spring melt.