Renewing a Minnesota Water Operator Certification: Class A - E
All told, the process for renewing a Minnesota water operator certification isn’t too strenuous. You only need to do it every few years, you get a built-in 30 day grace period, the fee is pretty affordable, and you can take the required training hours online.
Still, though, you don’t want to get lax. If you let your certificate go unrenewed for too long, you risk having to retake the water operator exam — something you’re probably not too keen to do.
Fortunately, that headache is very avoidable. All you need to do is stay in the know about what the Minnesota Department of Health Public Water Supply Unit requires.
To make that a whole lot easier for you, we’ve outlined all the details that Minnesota water operators need to know to keep their certificates active.
When MN water operator renewals are due
Your water operator certificate expires every three years. That expiration date is based on your original date of issue, so check your paperwork to figure out when you’re due for renewal.
In order to get the renewal form from the Department, they need to have your current address on file. They usually send out those renewal forms about two months before certificate expiration dates and their processing times aren’t particularly fast. So, to ensure you get the form you’ll need, double-check that the state has the right address on file for you about three months before your certificate expires.
If you need to update your address, you can contact the department at:
Minnesota Department of Health
Public Water Supply Unit
625 North Robert Street, Box 64494
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0494
Alternatively, you can reach them at health.drinkingwater@state.mn.us or (651) 201-4700.
Your renewal deadline is actually 30 days after your expiration date, so you have a little grace period here.
The training hours required for renewal
It’s not enough to fill out your renewal form and mail it back. The state requires all certified operators to “demonstrate professional growth by attending approved water and wastewater industry-related training.”
The specific number of hours you need varies depending on your certification level. Find your class below to figure out how many Minnesota water operator training hours you need, along with a link to access the relevant online training:
At least half of your hours need to focus specifically on direct water operations training. And note that the Department requires you to take your hours from a training provider they’ve already approved.
Fortunately, ticking both of those boxes can be easy if you choose a Department-approved education provider like us (you can check out our approval letter here and see the checkmark in the top-right indicating the thumbs-up from the state).
Even better, you can get state-approved water operator training hours online. That gives you the flexibility to work on your hours when you have time from any location you want.
Submitting your renewal
Again, make sure the state has your current mailing address so you get the renewal form. And knock out your required training hours before your renewal is due.
Once those things are done, your last step is to fill out the renewal form and return it to the Department of Health with the $23 renewal fee. Do that and you’ll have no issues keeping your certification active.