WQA’s certification exams are offered in an online, video-proctored format and can be taken at the office at the examinee’s convenience. Please review our information on scheduling, pricing and preparing for exams.
Certification Exams
Video Proctoring
Minimum requirements:
- Computer with a video camera and audio
- High-speed, reliable internet connection
- Quiet room without any technical books or water treatment reference materials
Please contact Daniel LeBlanc, WQA’s Professional Certification Coordinator, to set up your session.
Accommodations
WQA is committed to providing accommodations for examinees with learning disabilities or health-related needs. The examinee must provide documentation from an appropriately credentialed professional with the diagnosis of the condition for which accommodations are sought and the type of accommodation requested.
Requests and documentation must be submitted via email to WQA’s Professional Certification & Training department at education@wqa.org at least 30 days prior to the desired exam date.
Scheduling
Unless otherwise indicated, requests for private testing session must be received in WQA office at least three weeks prior to the desired test date. Examinees completing WQA’s instructor-led training may request exams two weeks prior to the desired test date.
Exams must be prepaid and be pre-scheduled.
You can submit an exam scheduling form in the Water Treatment Learning Center
Pricing
| EXAMS | NON-MEMBER | WQA MEMBERS |
| CWS/CI/CWR/CST/CCT/MWS | $639 | $319 |
| Certified Treatment Designer (CTD) | $639 (plus $50 one-time application review fee) | $319 (plus $30 one-time application review fee) |
A 3% convenience fee will be added at the time of purchase for online orders.
Exam retake policy
Those who do not pass the certification exam can retake the exam after 30 days. The retake fees are $119 (WQA members) and $339 (non-members). To reschedule the exam, resubmit an exam scheduling form in the Water Treatment Learning Center.
Preparing for the exam (or retake)
Before scheduling an exam, please review the eligibility requirements for each certification title on the Get Certified page.
Remember, candidates for certification with less than two years of relevant experience must complete prerequisite training courses to be eligible for examination. While the training is structured to provide the certification candidate with a stronger understanding of the concepts and topics covered on the certification exams, completion of training does not guarantee a passing score on the exam.
WQA offers study guides that recommend how to prepare for some of the certification exams:
- Certified Water Specialist (CWS) study guide
- Certified Installer (CI) study guide
- Certified Service Technician (CST) study guide
- Certified Water Treatment Representative (CWR) study guide
- Certified Treatment Designer (CTD) study guide
- Master Water Specialist (MWS) study guide
Click the arrow for more exam prep or strategy tips
- The review quizzes can help you identify areas that need more study; they recommend articles from WQA’s Knowledge Base to help you brush up on those topics.
- If you completed WQA training courses, the elearning activities and recorded videos can help you review, too.
- In your review, make note of terms or concepts that are unfamiliar or confusing to you. Free A.I. tools can generate quizzes to help you study those terms and concepts, or you can create flash cards to test yourself.
- Pretend you’re teaching someone else a concept or a term – go ahead and talk out loud! – to ensure you understand it yourself. If you have a study partner, you can explain the concepts to each other.
All of the exam questions are multiple choice, most with four potential answers. While several options might be plausible, only one is the best option under the circumstances provided in the question.
We recommend these exam strategies:
- Before starting the exam, be sure you get a good night’s sleep, eat a good meal and go to the bathroom in advance. Once you begin the exam, you cannot leave the room until you’ve finished.
- You’re allowed a full three hours for the exam, so no need to rush – read each question and the answer choices carefully.
- Answer all the questions you’re sure about first. If you get stuck on a question, skip it – you can always come back to it later.
- You can flag the questions you skipped to make them easier to find when you come back. Practice doing this with the Installer Review Quiz or CWS Review Quiz 1, which use the same software as the exams.
- Make good use of any remaining time – once you’ve answered all the questions, go back and check your responses.
If you have any other questions about the exam, email us at education@wqa.org.