Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators
On the Job
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators operate or control an entire system of machines to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.
- Inspect production equipment.
- Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products.
- Record operational or production data.
- Lubricate production equipment.
- Maintain production or processing equipment.
- Repair production equipment or tools.
- Collect samples of materials or products for testing.
- Clean production equipment.
- Clean work areas.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- The freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals.
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Exposure to contaminants (like gases or odors).
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Exposure to hazardous conditions.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Responsibility for others' health and safety.
- Working with a group or team.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.