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Overview
Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators typically do the following:
- Add chemicals, such as ammonia or chlorine, to disinfect water or other liquids
- Inspect equipment on a regular basis
- Monitor operating conditions, meters, and gauges
- Collect and test water and sewage samples
- Record meter and gauge readings and operational data
- Document and report test results to regulatory agencies
- Operate equipment to purify and clarify water or to process or dispose of sewage
- Clean and maintain equipment, tanks, filter beds, and other work areas
- Follow U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations
- Ensure safety standards are met
It takes many steps to get water from natural sources—reservoirs, streams, and groundwater—into people’s houses. Similarly, it is a complicated process to convert the wastewater from drains and sewers into a form that is safe to release into the environment.
The specific duties of plant operators depend on the type and size of the plant. In a small plant, one operator may be responsible for maintaining all of the systems. In large plants, multiple operators work the same shifts and are more specialized in their duties, often relying on computerized systems to help them monitor plant processes.
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must be able to manually operate the equipment if there is a plant malfunction due to power outages or electrical issues.
Water treatment plant and system operators work in water treatment plants. Fresh water is pumped from wells, rivers, streams, or reservoirs to water treatment plants, where it is treated and distributed to customers. Water treatment plant and system operators run the equipment, control the processes, and monitor the plants that treat water to make it safe to drink.
Wastewater treatment plant and system operators remove pollutants from domestic and industrial waste. Used water, also known as wastewater, travels through sewer pipes to treatment plants where it is treated and either returned to streams, rivers, and oceans, or used for irrigation.
Salary
Median salary: $49,090 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $37,830 and $62,890.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Hazardous Conditions (88%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (88%)
- Consequence of Error (78%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (69%)
- Time Pressure (65%)
- Hazardous Equipment (47%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Analytical skills
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must conduct tests and inspections on water or wastewater and evaluate the results.
Detail oriented
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must monitor machinery, gauges, dials, and controls to ensure everything is operating properly. Because tap water and wastewater are highly regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, operators must be careful and thorough in completing these tasks.
Math skills
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must have the ability to apply data to formulas that determine treatment requirements, flow levels, and concentration levels.
Mechanical skills
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must know how to work with machines and use tools. They must be familiar with how to operate, repair, and maintain equipment.
Injury and Illness
About 245 water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 95% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Chemical burns and corrosions
Soreness and pain
All multiple traumatic injuries
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators typically need a high school diploma or equivalent to become operators. Employers may prefer applicants who have completed a certificate, an associate’s, or a bachelor’s degree program in a related field such as environmental science or wastewater treatment technology.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators must be licensed by the state in which they work. Requirements and standards vary widely depending on the state.
State licenses typically have multiple levels, which indicate the operator’s experience and training. Although some states will honor licenses from other states, operators who move from one state to another may need to take a new set of exams to become licensed in their new state.
Education level of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
Only 13% of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators (ACS)
Employment
4% of Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 4% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 83% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators and gender
With 5% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 86% of careers.
Gender of Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Men (95%)
Women (5%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the
US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%.
The situation is a little better for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, with the
median salary for men 16%
higher than the median salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators.
Race/origin of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
White (84% )
Black (8% )
Other (2% )
Multiracial (2% )
Asian (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
