Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 45% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -5.7% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $60,020
- Job growth to 2035
- -5.7%
- Openings a year
- 10,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 131,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate industrial processing or production equipment
- Maintain tools or equipment
- Test characteristics of materials or products
What the work looks like
- Collect and test water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards.
- Operate and adjust controls on equipment to purify and clarify water, process or dispose of sewage, and generate power.
- Record operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms.
- Add chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, or lime, to disinfect and deodorize water and other liquids.
- Inspect equipment or monitor operating conditions, meters, and gauges to determine load requirements and detect malfunctions.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as improved equipment monitoring systems reduce the need to manually check plant equipment.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Packaging and filling machine operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +4.1%
- Wellhead pumpersHuman edge, steady, Index 65, -2.0%
- Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 59, -3.6%
Also known as: Wastewater Operator (WW Operator), Water Plant Operator, Water Treatment Operator, Water Treatment Plant Operator, Plant Operator, Process Operator (Process Op), Relief Operator, Waste Water Treatment Plant Operator (WWTP Operator).
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.