Career Advice on How to Become a Water Treatment Worker Without clean water, mankind wouldn’t last long.  We might not give the water treatment worker much thought, but if all of the sudden your tap water turns a bizarre and crazy color or you get sick from drinking it, well, you start thinking about the folks down at the water plant quite a bit.  If you are on the job search and looking into being a water treatment worker, here is some information.

Career Facts:

The job of the water treatment worker is to make sure that waste is properly treated to remove all harmful contaminants, whether they are chemical or microorganism in nature.  Failure to do so can have some serious implications on public health.

Career Opportunities and Job Outlook-Good:

This is an important job for public health and safety. Therefore, the job outlook is currently good.

A Day in The Life:

The water treatment worker makes sure that all the water that is processed at a water plant is adequately treated before either being released back into nature or sent through the pipes into our homes and businesses.

Average Salary:

There are about 110,000 water treatment workers in the United States and they, on average, earn about $36,000 a year. So there are indeed career opportunities in this field.

There are definitely a few things to consider in your career planning before taking a job as a wastewater treatment worker.  Any job that involves dealing with waste (and especially human waste) isn’t too high up on the “I want to do that job” list.  The fact that wastewater treatment workers, by job definition, have to deal with other people’s excrement makes this job less than appealing, at least to most people.  There is also the very real danger of exposure to harmful chemicals and all sorts of bacteria and viruses.  Bottom line, the water treatment worker should be paid a great deal more.

$36k

Career Training and Qualifications:

As far as career facts go, a high-school diploma is generally required. The completion of an associate’s degree or a one-year program in water quality and wastewater treatment technology is common.