Rose State College Offering Free Wastewater Classes This Month Due to Worker Shortage

MIDWEST CITY (KOKH) — The wastewater industry provides in-demand, high-paying careers and Rose State College is now offering a free, fast-paced program to get Oklahomans certified.

The four-day class is scheduled for the end of this month, and once completed, students who pass their two DEQ tests can apply for jobs in the wastewater industry, making anywhere from $15-$32 an hour.

There is a severe shortage of workers in the water and wastewater industry.

“Operators are aging out, they’re becoming older and they’re retiring and there’s not a lot of new young people coming into the business so it’s becoming a critical situation,” said Rose State College’s Environment Coordinator, William ‘Bill’ Clark.

With a lack of employees going into the wastewater field, it could affect you, and your drinking water.

“The distributor shortage can ultimately affect whether people have clean drinking water or not. So it’s pretty important,” said Clark.

Rose State College Workforce Development is offering classes for free, to try and get more people into the field.

“We came up with an idea where we would provide the training, it’s four days of training. They take their D water plant operator class and a D wastewater class. And they take this test at the end of each class and they become certified to operate a water treatment and wastewater treatment plant,” said Clark. “Rose State is providing all the upper upfront training cost and the testing costs. So there’s no cost at all to the applicants.”

The classes will be held from August 22 through August 25 and will teach students how to operate water and wastewater treatment plants.

“Collect samples for testing they test for pH, alkalinity, different other tests on the water and wastewater to make sure that it’s treated the drinking water. They have to meet water quality standards,” Clark said.

After the training ends, Rose State will hold a job fair to help their students get a secure job that provides benefits.

“On that Friday, all the graduates of the program that complete all the training and pass the tests, there’ll be a job fair,” Clark said. “We’ll bring all the employers in and then then they’ll be available to talk to employers and hopefully get hired by these employers to work at these facilities,” said Clark.

To qualify for the program you must,

• Be 18 years of age
• Have a High School Diploma or GED
• Have a Valid OK Driver’s license
• Be able to pass a drug test and background check
• Be able to lift 50-100lb.

Rose State is accepting the first 18 applicants who submit all of the required paperwork.

Applications for the classes are due this Wednesday, August 3. If you would like to apply, you can call Kylene Glidewell at (405) 733-7392, or email her at [email protected].