Water/Wastewater Engineers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 11% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 75% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 6% of the time, stays with people.
Design or oversee projects involving provision of potable water, disposal of wastewater and sewage, or prevention of flood-related damage. Prepare environmental documentation for water resources, regulatory program compliance, data management and analysis, and field work. Perform hydraulic modeling and pipeline design.
$100,840 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on4 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet33 h
- Stays with people3 h
Water/Wastewater Engineers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 4 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 33 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 3 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel (about 1 h); Review and critique proposals, plans, or designs related to water or wastewater treatment systems (under an hour); Evaluate the operation and maintenance of water or wastewater systems to identify ways to improve their efficiency (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 94%
- 0%
- 6%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. 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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 28 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.019% to 0.021% (released February and March 2025); 0.0081% to 0.013% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.019% | 452 of 708 | 4 of 28 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.021% | 415 of 703 | 7 of 28 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0081% | 478 of 655 | 3 of 28 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.018% | 407 of 672 | 5 of 28 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.013% | 462 of 677 | 4 of 28 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 28 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 28 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 28 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design water distribution systems for potable or non-potable water.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 9% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.3 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Design sludge treatment plants.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 9% | 2.5 work weeks2.5 work days to 1.9 work months | 0%Half by Dec 2028 | |
| Design domestic or industrial water or wastewater treatment plants, including advanced facilities with sequencing batch reactors (SBR), membranes, lift stations, headworks, surge overflow basins, ultraviolet disinfection systems, aerobic digesters, sludge lagoons, or control buildings.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 3.5 work weeks2.5 work days to 2.3 work months | 0%Half by May 2029 | |
| Design pumping systems, pumping stations, pipelines, force mains, or sewers for the collection of wastewater.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.3 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Conduct feasibility studies for the construction of facilities, such as water supply systems, runoff collection networks, water and wastewater treatment plants, or wastewater collection systems.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Aug 2028 | |
| Design water or wastewater lift stations, including water wells.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Analyze storm water or floodplain drainage systems to control erosion, stabilize river banks, repair channel streams, or design bridges.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Design water runoff collection networks, water supply channels, or water supply system networks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.3 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Design water storage tanks or other water storage facilities.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Write technical reports or publications related to water resources development or water use efficiency.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 18%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Conduct water quality studies to identify and characterize water pollutant sources.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Analyze and recommend chemical, biological, or other wastewater treatment methods to prepare water for industrial or domestic use.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 |
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.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Water/Wastewater Engineers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 11% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 75% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (41% to 90% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Water/Wastewater Engineers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel (99% of the task's time now); Review and critique proposals, plans, or designs related to water or wastewater treatment systems (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Evaluate the operation and maintenance of water or wastewater systems to identify ways to improve their efficiency (28% of the task's time now, 99% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Water/Wastewater Engineers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Conduct water quality studies to identify and characterize water pollutant sources; Conduct environmental impact studies related to water and wastewater collection, treatment, or distribution; and Oversee the construction of decentralized or on-site wastewater treatment systems, including reclaimed water facilities. Together such tasks are about 6% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Water/Wastewater Engineers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 1%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Water/Wastewater Engineers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 28 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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