Program Overview

Water Technology Program Overview

The Water Technology program is an award-winning, up-to-date technical training opportunity that opens doors to a career in the water field anywhere in the United States. Graduates of this program have found work in various locations, including New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iraq, and Puerto Rico.

Program Details

More than 400 graduates have begun careers in the water field, working in diverse areas such as:

• Semiconductor industry
• Food processing industry
• Aerospace industry
• Electrical power industry
• City water and wastewater departments
• Municipal or contract analytical laboratories
• Water reuse or recycling plants
• Metal plating companies
• Engineering consulting firms
• State planning offices

Students in this program learn how to:

• Clean water to make it safe for drinking
• Purify water to a high quality for use in computer chip manufacturing, food processing, or steam generation
• Treat wastewater so it can be safely returned to the environment or reclaimed for beneficial use
• Maintain equipment such as pumps, motors, valves, and chemical feeders
• Perform laboratory testing and analysis
• Understand water and wastewater chemistry and microbiology
• Apply math concepts to water and wastewater treatment
• Supervise and manage a water utility, including budgets, preventive maintenance schemes, and billing

Course Requirements

The program includes various courses, such as:

• WATR 120: Introduction to Water Systems
• WATR 130: Wastewater Collection and Basic Treatment Systems
• WATR 140: Applied Water and Wastewater Math I
• WATR 160: Systems Maintenance
• WATR 175: Programmable Logic Controllers
• WATR 180: Water Chemistry
• WATR 182: Water Chemistry Analysis
• WATR 190: Water and Wastewater Microbiology
• WATR 192: Water and Wastewater Microbiological Analysis
• WATR 200: Internship
• WATR 220: Water Treatment Systems
• WATR 222: Water Systems Operation
• WATR 230: Advanced Wastewater Treatment
• WATR 232: Wastewater Systems Operations
• WATR 240: Advanced Water and Wastewater Math II
• WATR 250: Municipal Systems Management
• WATR 270: Special Topics
• WATR 275: Certification Review
• WATR 285: High Purity Water Treatment Systems
• WATR 287: Advanced Water Chemistry Analysis
• WATR 290: Advanced Wastewater Microbiology and Chemistry
• WATR 292: Advanced Wastewater Analysis

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the program, students will be able to:

• Identify appropriate process changes for different wastewater processes
• Identify appropriate process changes for different water processes
• Identify corrective actions for equipment failure
• Identify analytical data required to complete process control calculations
• Accurately complete water process control calculations
• Accurately complete wastewater process control calculations
• Evaluate operational problems
• Identify the sampling points for data collection

Internship and Career Opportunities

Before graduating, students will spend a minimum of 180 hours at an internship site with a municipality or industry. Students have found co-ops at water and wastewater plants and laboratories in various locations, including Albuquerque, El Paso, Las Cruces, Socorro, Hobbs, Silver City, Mesilla, and Glorieta, and with industries such as Intel and Kurita America.

Financial Aid and Scholarships

Financial aid beyond loans, grants, work-study monies, and DACC scholarships includes nine private scholarships specifically for Water Technology students, such as:

• Max Summerlot Memorial Scholarship
• Cynthia Hiers-Robinson Current-Use Scholarship
• Pruett Family Water Technology Scholarship
• Col. Raymond Madson Memorial Scholarship
• Scholarships presented by the New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association
• Scholarships presented by the Southwest Section of the New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association
• Scholarships presented by the Central Section of the New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association

Admission Requirements

Students must achieve a cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 with a final grade of C- or better in ENGL 1110G Composition I and a final grade of C- or better in all required WATR courses.