Is anybody here a wasterwater/water plant operator?

The downside is it reeks. You will be smelling sewage all day. You will smell like sewage all day. The first thing you will want to do after work is shower. You will do laundry 5 times a week.

I know a guy who has done it for years. At first it seemed like a good setup. He sits around watching screens that display all the pressure gauges for the pumps at the plant. Sometimes one of the gauges register an abnormal pressure so he has to physically go to the pump and inspect it. Normally there would be a blockage he had to clear then the pump would be back online. I have my suspicions as to what the blockage would be. If there was a major issue he just shut the pump off and called in the engineers to fix it.

Anyway, the main down side I saw was the schedule. His schedule would rotate in blocks between day and night shifts. Something like 5 nights, 3 days off, 5 days, repeat. I think he got a good amount of PTO based on hours worked, but I am pretty sure he was always paid by the hour.

My favorite thing about this guy is he was the entire cast of Caddy Shack wrapped into one person. He was Danny's age at the time the movie was filmed and comes from a fairly well off family so he was a round a lot of that country club lifestyle in the 80s. One of the most genuinely entertaining people I've known.

I see. Yes, having a schedule that seems like it isn't the regular M-F would be a downside. The county near me has its schedule as 2 days on, 2 nights on, 4 days off. Salary is 55k-80k depending on what level you are.

I suppose reeking would be one of the downsides. It seems like a pretty chill job though.

Howie never reeked of sewage. He reeks of booze though.

55-80k to sit on your butt looking at screens all day does sound pretty chill. What are the growth opportunities? Start at 55k and retire at 80k with a city pension?

Ok for the reeking. I've heard that the smell doesn't follow you that badly. From what I can tell, there is a lot of opportunity in this field when it comes to salary. It seems like you just have to stick with it and get into management. From what I can see right now, it's 58k-80k for a regular operator to senior operator. The pension would be the same as the standard state pension, which is 60% of your last few years of salary if you work 30 years.

Then, if you get promoted into management it's 100k-130k for an "assistant plant manager". I believe that you can be a plant manager if you're just an operator. To get into the highest levels, such as director or assistant director of the wastewater division, I think that you either have to have at least a bachelor's in environmental or civil engineering. I'm not so strong in math to try to go back and get an engineering degree.

Other states in the midwest have pretty low salaries. Like starting at 36k. I think that this county has high salaries because the workers are represented by a strong union. And it's a high cost of living area. Anyway, I have a bachelor's in an unrelated subject and now I'm doing starting an associates in wastewater. I'm going to try to do an internship soon. This field doesn't sound like the most glamorous, but it seems like a solid career. Thanks, redux.

it's a good field, plant operators in general seem to be pretty satisfied with their work in my experiences with them. the work will always be there, but you can probably expect drastic changes in the process units over the next 10-15 years, especially in wastewater (or water recovery) plants. make sure you're ahead of the curve there; you don't really need a math background to have a good grasp on the types of technologies that are emergent, and it will help you to advance if you are a contributing member of the team.

know the specific challenges that your plant faces--they all involve different process units, microbes, and technologies that will present different opportunities and challenges. be especially cognizant of what your plant is doing with the waste solids, as well as the composition of those solids. these are quickly becoming a valuable resource and an opportunity for plants to recover energy in an environmentally benign and cost-effective way. in some cases water recovery plants can be net energy producers, and actually turn a profit for the city.

sorry, kind of up my alley and wanted to let you know what your future might hold.

I am. Water treatment plant operator that is, not wastewater. Actually at this point I'm a plant supervisor for a municipal town of 15,000.

There's a lot to tell. So where to start.

I like the career field overall. As you mentioned. It's very stable. Most of the field is retiring in the next 5-10 years so there's plenty of opportunity. One of the biggest pluses is that it's so diverse. You can be an entrepreneur single operator running routes for small towns, or you can work shifts for a large municipality. And everything in between.

Everywhere needs water/wastewater. So jobs are everywhere. Licenses are granted at the state level, but most states have reciprocity or some workaround for it. So you can go anywhere.

If you have a college education it'll get you to the top in no time. That's been my situation. A BS in Biology has allowed me to sit for my licensing exams in half the time as is normally required based off working experience alone. Most states allow a substitute of experience for formal education to sit for licensing exams. However, the field at this point is still extremely entry level friendly. If you don't have a college degree it really wont hinder you at all until you get to the point of being a Plant superintendent or beyond. At which point you will be below most required qualifications.

Pay is all over the place as you can imagine. As is the job description. If you work for a small rural water system, you'll get paid very little, and you'll be driving around reading meters, and fixing broken pipes most of the time. At a mid level plant, you'll work shifts and run the plant most of the time, and perform maintenance the other. At a large plant you'll rotate through 24 hr shifts on operations only and never fix anything. Pay largely depends on what area of the country you're in, what your license/experience level is, and how big of a plant you work for. Overall I think the pay is pretty good.

One of the biggest drawbacks is also one of the greatest pluses. There are a lot of trolls in this field, as an old boss of mine used to say. That is, most of the guys in this field aren't exactly go getters, and aren't exactly brainiacs. The profession has been filled by mostly mechanic/construction types for a long time. That coupled with a municipal focus with no accountability doesn't exactly promote excellence. However, the exciting part is that the industry is changing in a hurry. Simple sedimentation/coagulation plants are turning into membrane plants, with full automation, SCADA controls, etc. Not to mention the regulations increase almost every year. So it's rapidly becoming a much more technical profession. In fact the industry as a whole is trying to change the term "Operator" to "Treatment Specialist" because studies have shown the public has a negative perception of "Operator." So if you are an ambitious person who enjoys learning the details of what you do and why, you'll fly to the top. I've been in the industry for 6 years and it took me just 4 to go from day 1 on the job, to the supervisor position I have today. But that was because I wasn't afraid to bounce around to different positions/plants in order to further my career.

The biggest negative, as someone else already mentioned, are the hours. As an operator you will rotate through a schedule of weekends, holidays, whatever. No exceptions. If there's the blizzard of the century, you're comin in. People have to have water. Period. Most bigger plants are 24/7 which means you'll rotate through that as well. At smaller plants you might only rotate through day/afternoon hours, but then you'll be on call for usually a week at a time. So you'll take a phone home, and if the plant has an issue at 2am, it calls you, you come in and fix it. You will get paid OT for stuff like that though. And usually you'll get paid a certain amount just to be on call, regardless of whether or not you get called in.

As to the monotony. There is something to that. I've known guys that quit and went back to the Street dept because they couldn't sit and stare at a screen all day. I like to say to my guys, that if you like excitement, this isn't the career for you. What I mean by that is that a great day in water/wastewater is when nothin happens. Meaning everything works. If you're day is exciting, it means something is broke and you are in deep shit. Most plants don't have the redundancy that they would like, or the treatment process as a whole is fragile. So upsets are a big deal. Back to my original point. Some guys can't handle the routine. You will run the same lab tests, every 2-4 hours, every day, for the rest of your career. That's a little simplistic, but you get my point. Good operators will take responsibility for the details and learn to master the equipment/process and enjoy the tweaking. Which keeps things interesting. Bad ones get bored and think there's nothing to do and don't keep the plant where it should be all the time.

Don't get me wrong, the field is incredibly interesting. There's a great deal to know. It just depends on how much you want to get out of it. Between the regulations to know, the treatment process, the equipment, the electrical that connects it all, the computerization that runs it all, and the distribution that gets it all to the end user. I assure you there's enough to keep you engaged. Most guys just don't care to learn. The ones that do become management.

I can't speak to the wastewater side much. I've worked with wastewater operators before but never been one. The water side is pretty clean and is mostly a big chemistry set. Wastewater is basically wet composting but can be dirty but isn't horrible. It's not like you're covered in crap all the time. But I did have a buddy who used to say that going to college and getting a science degree, only to get out and be picking used condoms, tampons, and needles off a bar screen would really mess with his head. But, he's now a supervisor after only 4 years on the job as well. Wastewater is a lot more biology with a great deal more laboratory work as you're basically keeping fecal eating bugs alive and catering to their needs all the time. Water is figuring your chemical dosages and keeping them there. Along with managing water levels for the demand your experiencing.

Hope that helps, I'll monitor this thread, if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer.

Thanks for that. I took a water lab and a wastewater lab and I felt that wastewater was more interesting at the moment.

If I worked for a couple of years, then took a year off to do a master's in environmental studies or an MBA, would it benefit me? Are these typically jobs that you don't want to walk away from like that? I could see myself going for something like a year-long MBA. I'm just thinking of things that I can do now that will help me in the future.

I saw the linkedin resume of an operator. He went from an associates at a community college, working at a plant for a couple of years, a bachelor's in public administration, then a master's in water policy at Oxford, and now he's a manager at the N. American branch of a big French company.

At 30, I'm usually the youngest person in my wastewater classes. When I went to the info session for the program a while ago, everybody else who was interested was over 40.

I'd say taking a year off to pursue a masters wouldn't be a big deal. But you'd have to find a new job for sure. Municipal jobs especially tend to have very little turnover. I know some guys wait years for operator spots to open up. That being said, if you have experience, and education, you'll get hired over them for sure. The hardest part about this field is getting experience and that foot in the door. Once you have that, you're above most. Especially if you can attain a higher level license before taking an absence.

Interesting that you mentioned that resume. That shows the vast experiences you can have in this field if you want. I personally know a superintendent for a city of 50,000 that was paid to fly to France to give a presentation at a conference this past year. On the flip side, I've met guys at annual conferences that have managed the same sewage lagoon (basically a pond filled with shit, doesn't get any simpler in the industry) for the last 35 years. So it takes all kinds.

The masters you alluded to is an interesting question and one I personally struggle with at the moment. In my opinion, it seems at though once you want to move out of a dept superintendent, and into a public works director level. It usually requires an engineering degree. At least for a decently large city. That being said, I have seen ads for that level of position for a science degree with an MBA/MPA also. So I think the possibility is there for that degree to pay dividends.

For what it's worth, I am also 30 and have always been the youngest, by far, at every job I've been at. It takes it's toll some times, but there is a big group of young people coming up in the field.

I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of awareness of the field. As I like to tell the tour groups that I see. This job isn't what you told your high school guidance counselor you wanted to be when you grow up. But it's a pretty good gig. Most of the time, it's pretty cushy.

Thanks. I discovered this field by chance. I'm in a climbing club and one guy has a son who graduated with the same degree that I have. He couldn't get a job so he went to a community college to do wastewater. I just checked my email and I got a response from a plant that's about an hour away. It seems like I'll be able to do an internship there.

Right now I'm working in a warehouse of a major online retailer. When I look at what it takes to advance in the operations of this place versus working in ww, ww looks pretty good.

I'm a soon to be grad in the field, with a bachelor's in civil engineering and will finish my master's in environmental engineering soon. Your insight is really valuable and I was just wondering what kind of advice you might have for a recent grad who is interested in advancing to the public works director level. where do you start?

most of my peers who are getting jobs with government are doing so as transportation engineers, and others are moving onto larger engineering firms. I really enjoy water processes--spent most of undergrad and graduate school touring the local facilities and when I travel I try to look up the process units they use in the cities I go to. I'd love to make a career of it and get involved in public works. What path would you recommend?

Soon-to-be-grad,

Your avenue is abit out of my realm as your an engineer so you're path will be quite different than mine.

On the flip side I've worked with countless engineers over the last few years through all the plant startups/improvements I've been a part of. Additionally my father is a civil engineer.

I would think you're best bet would be to start working as a civil engineer to gain experience in the field and then transfer to a city. Most of the public works directors I've seen usually come from the transportation side. Don't know why that is, but seems to be the case. Some cities have an Environmental Services Director type position that usually handles water/wastewater/distribution that works under the PWD. That might be an option at some point to.

My father and I have talked a few times that if an engineer had operations experience, it would be an extremely valuable combo. And in fact the ones that do, end up being project managers at the firm sooner rather than later. Whether or not that's worth your time while also transitioning into a PE career I do not know.

I guess none of that really answers your question. As I said, mostly because I'm not real sure how an engineer would make the transition. Other than to gain experience on water/wastewater projects and then start applying for a PWD type position. I would think you'd be a decent candidate at that point.

From what I've seen looking, at Linkedin resumes, engineers who are at high levels with the city or county usually or very often have a few years experience with private companies designing and building wastewater/water systems.

good career? wrote:

From what I've seen looking, at Linkedin resumes, engineers who are at high levels with the city or county usually or very often have a few years experience with private companies designing and building wastewater/water systems.

That has been my experience as well. For example the director of utilities in my city of 120k has 20 years in private consulting, then managed a regional wholesale water provider, then went to city government.

I have recently started to think about city management type positions myself. The private consulting arena may not be for me.

This gets my vote for strangest serious thread of the year. Only on LetsRun. Good luck in your career.

No, but I have been issued a restraining order to keep 400 meters away due to me trying to get in to smell the dirty water up close.

gdm wrote:

This gets my vote for strangest serious thread of the year. Only on LetsRun. Good luck in your career.

Actually, it's quite interesting.

I am a licensed wastewater treatment operator for over 40 years. I also work for a consulting engineering firm as an Operations Consultant and I teach operator training at Reading Area Community College.

Working as an operator at a WWTP is not a boring job at all. There are lots of positions for someone who is somewhat mechanically inclined, can solve problems, is willing to work and cares about the environment. This is what this career is all about, protecting the environment and keeping the streams clean. It is good steady work and pays well. There is a big need for new operators to replace the ones of us that are reaching retirement age.

Sewage is something that will always be here and experienced and trained people need to treat it to the point where what is discharged to the rivers and streams is good clean water.

It is not a smelly job. If a WWTP is working as it should there is very little smell at all. Visit a local WWTP and the operators will be glad to show you around and show you what it is all about. I recommend you consider this career if you think it might be for you.

NOT TRUE AT ALL!!! Obviously this person needs to visit a WWTP to see for himself.