Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator and Manager

Salary
Starting salary: £9,500
Experienced Operator: £15,000
Manager: £35,000

Main Employers

• Water companies
• Sewage companies
• Utilities companies
• Private waste treatment operators
• Waste management services companies
• Local government

Job Profile
Wastewater travels through customers’ sewer pipes to wastewater treatment plants where it is either treated and returned to streams, rivers, and oceans, or reused for irrigation and landscaping. Wastewater treatment plant and system operators remove harmful pollutants from domestic and industrial liquid waste so that it is safe to drink or to return to the environment. They treat the water, installing, repairing and maintaining water distribution and sewerage systems which take water into peoples’ homes and businesses then removes sewage and wastewater

Roles and Responsibilities
• Reading, interpreting and adjusting meters and gauges
• Operators control equipment and processes that remove or destroy harmful materials, chemical compounds and micro-organisms from the water
• Control pumps, valves and other equipment that moves the wastewater through the various treatment processes
• Disposal of removed waste materials
• Performing chemical and biological laboratory analyses
• Sampling and measuring water quality and wastewater
• Mending, cleaning  and checking pipes via CCTV
• Using computers to monitor equipment, store results of sampling, make process-control decisions, schedule and record maintenance activities
• Planned maintenance work
• Responding to emergencies such as a heavy rainstorm, which may cause large amounts of wastewater to flow into sewers exceeding a plant’s treatment capacity, or emergencies caused by conditions inside a plant such as chlorine gas leaks or oxygen deficiencies

The specific duties of plant operators depend on the type and size of the plant. In smaller plants, one operator may control all of the machinery, perform tests, keep records, handle complaints and perform repairs and maintenance. A few operators may handle both a water treatment and a wastewater treatment plant. In larger plants with many employees, operators may be more specialized and monitor only one process.

Qualifications
Qualifications are not always required for wastewater treatment plant operators but some companies ask for five pass GCSE grades, including English and Maths. Apprenticeships are available for some positions or qualifications such as NVQ/SVQ Level 2 in Water Industry Operations. Sewerage maintenance may be available for those who do not enter the industry as apprentices. Some organisations run training schemes for junior operatives aged 16 to 18, while others take operatives at age 18.

Training is mostly on the job with junior operators studying subjects such as water technology and supply, distribution system construction, health, safety, the environment and customer care. They receive practical training working with an experienced operative on subjects like monitoring and maintenance.

The completion of a degree relevant to water quality or wastewater treatment technology increases an applicant’s chances for promotion as educational requirements are being raised due to more complex treatment plants being built to meet new drinking water and water pollution control standards.

Wastewater treatment plant managers require at least an HNC qualification or above in Chemistry, Engineering, Science or related degree and five years worth of relevant industry experience.

Career Opportunities
In England and Wales, there are nearly 20 privately owned water and sewerage companies. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, water services are publicly owned.
There are a number of large companies which work under contract to the water companies to construct and maintain the water system.

Opportunities exist throughout the UK and the number of vacancies is currently stable. There may be some opportunities overseas, particularly in developing countries.

Wastewater treatment plant operators can be promoted to supervisor, inspector, area superintendent or controller. It may be possible to move into management positions with some operators studying for engineering degrees to become engineering technicians or incorporated water engineers.

Job prospects are good for qualified individuals because the number of applicants in this field is normally low due primarily to the unclean and physically demanding nature of the work. Workers who have training in all aspects of water and wastewater treatment who can handle multiple duties will have the best opportunities.

The increasing population and the growth of the economy are expected to boost demand for essential water and wastewater treatment services. As new plants are constructed to meet this demand, employment of wastewater treatment plant operators and managers will increase.