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Requirements to Renew a South Carolina Water Operator License

As a licensed South Carolina water operator, things can get a little confusing. A couple of different deadlines apply to your renewal steps, so it can be tricky to keep everything straight. Fortunately, the South Carolina Labor Licensing Regulation (SCLLR) Environmental Certification Board doesn’t require a ton from you, so once you know what you need to do, it’s pretty easy to maintain your license.

If you’re wondering exactly what’s required to renew your South Carolina water operator license, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll go over each requirement and its timeline below. 

Renew your license annually

The first week in April each year, you should get a renewal reminder card in the mail from the SCLLR. On that card, you’ll see your user ID for the SCLLR web portal (along with password reset instructions, if you need them).

Then, you’ll need to go to that portal and log in to submit your license renewal application. You can also log in there to update your address and ensure that you get your renewal reminder each year. 

  • Your renewal is due by June 30 on an annual basis.
  • The renewal fee is $30, which you can pay online through the portal. When you log in to submit your renewal, make sure you have a payment method handy. 

 

If you have more than one license, you’ll need to renew them individually. When you log in, you should see each of your licenses listed. Once you submit one renewal, you’ll need to log back in to submit renewals for any other licenses you hold. 

Complete continuing education every two years

While your South Carolina water operator license renewal is due every year, you only need to meet the state’s continuing education (CE) requirement biennially. There currently aren’t any exemptions for this requirement, so all licensed South Carolina water operators are subject to it.

To comply, you need 12 hours of CE (see the package we offer here) every two years. This is due by June 30 of every odd-numbered year (e.g., 2023, 2025, etc.). 

The Board doesn’t approve any specific CE providers. Instead, you can review what counts toward your CE under the “Requirements and Deadlines” dropdown on this page. To sum things up, your CE hours need to focus on water and/or wastewater treatment facilities. 

To make things easy on you, we offer 12 hours of SCLLR-compliant CE online and on-demand. That lets you get your hours done whenever you’ve got time from any location you want. 

You don’t need to submit anything to the state by the June 30 deadline to show that you’ve met the CE requirement. But you do need to be ready in case you get audited, so hold onto the certificate of completion you get when you finish any course. 

Always be prepared for an audit

As a licensed water operator, it’s your responsibility to track your CE hours. Each year after the CE deadline, the Board randomly chooses people to audit to make sure they’re compliant with their CE requirements. 

If you get audited, you’ll need to submit:

  • The name, date, and number of hours for any course you completed
  • The instructor’s name
  • The outline/agenda for the course
  • A completed CE log

 

To recap: renew your license annually, complete 12 hours of CE every two years, and always be ready for an audit. That way, you won’t have any issues keeping your South Carolina water operator license active.