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.
128,490 people do this job in the US. $60,020 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 11%
- 15%
- 74%
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, 11%. Today's estimate: 11%.
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 . 8 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inspect equipment or monitor operating conditions, meters, and gauges to determine load requirements and detect malfunctions.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Direct and coordinate plant workers engaged in routine operations and maintenance activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect and test water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate and adjust controls on equipment to purify and clarify water, process or dispose of sewage, and generate power.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 14% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Add chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, or lime, to disinfect and deodorize water and other liquids.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Record operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 11% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Clean and maintain tanks, filter beds, and other work areas, using hand tools and power tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain, repair, and lubricate equipment, using hand tools and power tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 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.
- Chemical Plant and System Operators22% now, 22% by 2028
- Biomass Plant Technicians6% now, 7% by 2028
- Power Plant Operators41% now, 45% by 2028
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians10% now, 11% by 2028
- Gas Plant Operators14% now, 16% by 2028
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders6% now, 6% 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).