The continuing demand for trained drinking water and wastewater treatment plant operators has led to collabo­ration between Lewis and Clark Community College and the Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

In the Water Treatment Technology program students will receive a combination of classroom, laboratory, and hands-on experience at the training-scale water treatment plants at ERTC along with classes in biology, English, accounting, and business management at Lewis and Clark.

Graduates of the program can become certified water treatment operators who also have business management skills that will give them a better opportunity to advance into supervisory positions.

Lewis and Clark and ERTC have a long history of providing technical training for students who wish to enter the workforce after completing one or two years of training. The ERTC program began in 1981 and has an excellent employment rate for graduates who are employed in Illinois, Missouri and 15 other states.

The facilities at ERTC include classrooms, auditorium, fully equipped wet chemistry teaching labs, an instru­mental analysis teaching lab, a library-computer center,  a 30,000 gallon/day training-scale water and wastewater treatment plant and the 0.5 million-gallon-per-day uni­versity wastewater treatment plant.

The American Water Works Association has estimated that almost 50 percent of today’s water and wastewater operators will retire within the next five to 10 years. Other estimates range from 22 percent to 34 percent potential retirees in five to 10 years. The retirement of the existing operators will provide employment opportu­nities for graduates of the program.

Water Treatment Technology brochure