High school diploma or General Educational Development (GED).
One specialized course covering the fundamentals of drinking water treatment.
The high school diploma or GED requirement can also be met by completing the State Water Board Basic Small Water Systems Operations course, or by one year operating a facility that required an understanding of chemical feeds, hydraulics and pumps (treatment) or piping, pumps, valves and storage tanks (distribution).
To be certified at T2
Pass the T2 or T3 exam within three years before applying. No experience requirement.
A specialized course means one course of at least 36 contact hours, 3.6 continuing education units (CEU), or 3 college semester units, from an accredited institution or an International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) accredited or authorized provider.
The passed examination must be within three years before the certification application.
The Expected Range of Knowledge (ERK) lists 201 objectives tested at T2, 45 of them new at this grade.
Chemical feed: pounds formula · an original practice item written only from publicly available sources, not a real exam question
A plant treats 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) and needs a chlorine dose of 3.2 mg/L. How many pounds of chlorine per day is that?
4.80 lb/day
17.8 lb/day
26.7 lb/day
40.0 lb/day
Answer and working
D. 40.0 lb/day
Pounds per day = flow (MGD) × dose (mg/L) × 8.34 lb/gal = 1.5 × 3.2 × 8.34 = 40.0 lb/day. 4.80 drops the 8.34 conversion factor, 17.8 divides by the flow instead of multiplying (3.2 × 8.34 ÷ 1.5), and 26.7 leaves the flow out altogether (3.2 × 8.34).
T2 questions answered
What do I need to sit the T2 treatment exam?
High school diploma or GED. One specialized course covering the fundamentals of drinking water treatment. The high school diploma or GED requirement can also be met by completing the State Water Board Basic Small Water Systems Operations course, or by one year operating a facility that required an understanding of chemical feeds, hydraulics and pumps (treatment) or piping, pumps, valves and storage tanks (distribution).
Topic coverage follows Expected Range of Knowledge for Drinking Water Treatment Exam (SWRCB Division of Drinking Water, rev. 4/2020).
Practice questions are written only from publicly available sources
(that outline and the regulations and references it cites); they are
not real exam questions, which are confidential.
Check current application requirements, fees and exam dates on the
certifying body's own page: official certification page.
Questions, flashcards, and explanations are AI-written from publicly available sources only: the exam content outlines and candidate materials each certifying body publishes without restriction, and the regulations and technical references they cite. No confidential material is used, including actual exam questions, recollections of any exam sat by the author, or any handbook or document released under a confidentiality agreement. Content is then put through repeated review — regulatory values checked against primary sources, every calculation recomputed, and errors corrected — plus spot checks by the author, who holds California water operator certifications and a California civil engineering licence. Those spot checks are sampling, not a professional review: nothing here is stamped, sealed, or offered as engineering advice, and not every item has been individually verified, so mistakes can still slip through.