Water Programs
Between 2000 and 2010, the Montana Water Center created a series of online, CD and DVD training resources for small water and wastewater systems operators. Created through a series of grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, these resources provided valuable training and continuing education opportunities, particularly for small, rural water system operators. Using the technology and tools available at the time, the media team at the Montana Water Center (MWC) developed programs covering ground water and surface water basics, water contamination, water quality, water treatment technologies, stormwater issues, and small water system operations. Most US states offered continuing education credits to small-systems operators for completing the courses.
More than 10,000 copies of each program (in some cases 40,000+) were freely distributed via disk to small water systems and state water departments throughout the country and U.S. territories. In addition, thousands more accessed the programs online or by attending hands-on workshops. By 2021, though, the original (Flash) format of these courses was outdated, and made them inaccessbile for most users.
As interest and demand for accessible educational resources for water professionals continued, we made the decision to "repackage" the content from the original water courses and offer them using Canvas LMS. Using as LMS like Canvas makes the courses accessible to anyone with a computer, smartphone, or tablet.
NOTE: The Montana Water Center no longer directly facilitates awarding/processing CEU for these resources. We can vouch for the content, accuracy and relevance of these resources should individuals desire to apply for CEUs in their own state using these resources. We strongly recommend investigating this potential with your state’s certifying organization before beginning any of these programs.
MSU has partnered with 
The Operator Basics program was released in 2000, with the most recent version updated
in 2005. While the primary audience for Operator Basics was initially small water
systems operators, much of the content in these programs is focused on basic hydrology,
water quality and community water system issues. These courses may also be of benefit
to a wide variety of professionals, such as local and state level policy makers and
planners, educators, construction managers, landowners, natural resource managers,
real estate professionals and others.
Water Quality Basics is a repackaging of the Water Quality Expedition program that
was initially released in 2007. This course takes water system personnel and regulators
on a virtual expedition through water quality issues, including primers on the hydrologic
cycle and determinants of water quality. The course includes sections on important
issues such as fate and transport, iron and manganese, hard water, fire in the watershed,
animal feeding operations, nutrients, wastewater treatment, and emerging contaminants. Registration link below -- IT'S FREE!
