Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or drains. May patch walls and partitions of tank, replace damaged drain tile, or repair breaks in underground piping.
30,650 people do this job in the US. $49,880 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 6%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 22 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or related structures such as manholes, culverts, and catch basins.Done daily by most who do it. | 36% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Operate sewer cleaning equipment, including power rodders, high-velocity water jets, sewer flushers, bucket machines, wayne balls, and vac-alls.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive trucks to transport crews, materials, and equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Dig out sewer lines manually, using shovels.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Locate problems, using specially designed equipment, and mark where digging must occur to reach damaged tanks or pipes.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Start machines to feed revolving cables or rods into openings, stopping machines and changing knives to conform to pipe sizes.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare and keep records of actions taken, including maintenance and repair work.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Service, adjust, and make minor repairs to equipment, machines, and attachments.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Withdraw cables from pipes and examine them for evidence of mud, roots, grease, and other deposits indicating broken or clogged sewer lines.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut damaged sections of pipe with cutters, remove broken sections from ditches, and replace pipe sections, using pipe sleeves.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect manholes to locate sewer line stoppages.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 2% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure excavation sites, using plumbers' snakes, tapelines, or lengths of cutting heads within sewers, and mark areas for digging.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters16% now, 24% by 2028
- Pipelayers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators11% now, 11% by 2028
- Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters0% now, 0% by 2028
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General5% now, 15% by 2028
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).