California Water Environment Association

Conference, trainings and seminars- California Water Environment Association (CWEA) manages multiple conferences and trainings to meet the needs of professionals in the wastewater field to understand and comply with regulations, learn new technology, practices, and process. Trainings include annual, regional, vocation-based, and specialty conferences, joint conferences with other associations interested in water quality, and local section and committee training events. In addition, CWEA offers training on Sewer System Overflow (SSO) Waste Discharge Requirement (WDR) through a memo of agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board to help support regulatory compliance and SSO reductions.

Member services - CWEA has approximately 9,400 members who are water quality professionals in wastewater treatment. CWEA member services include: 1. Wastewater Professional (a technical print publication published 3 times a year) 2. E-Bulletin (an electronic publication, which can be updated 24/7) 3. Online member directory 4. Online certification study guides and instructor guides 5. Online benchmarking manuals 6. Online branding manual: "Building the Wastewater Utility Brand: Practical Advice for Increasing Trust, Support, and Investment." 7. Awards program (recognizing outstanding individual performance as well as wastewater treatment plant and collection system performance) 8. Scholarship program (educational scholarships are granted by the Scholarship committee to students who are in, or interested in, the water environment field) 9. Website (that includes proceedings and presentations from educational events, jobs available, links to other resources)

Certification - CWEA has developed and offers a voluntary competency-based certification program for wastewater professionals that is regularly validated. The program began in 1938. The certification program is intended to strengthen professional competence of the professionals who protect the public's health and the environment through their work in wastewater treatment plants and collection systems. The program consists of development and implementation of exams and renewal processes for six vocations in the wastewater profession. Exams are offered via computer-based testing throughout the State at secure, proctored sites. Approximately 5,400 wastewater professionals hold approximately 6,200 CWEA certificates of competency. Each year CWEA gives approximately 1,600 tests through a complex set of 21 validated certification tests. Many wastewater agencies use the certificate as a basis for hiring and promotion decisions. CWEA founded the Wastewater treatment Plant Operator Certification Program in 1937 and administered it until the State Water Resources Control Board adopted CWEA's program in 1973 as a result of the Clean Water Act.