Water/Wastewater Engineers
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.
Also Known As:
Consulting Engineer
County Engineer
Engineer
Project Development Engineer
Wages
Annual wages for Water/Wastewater Engineers in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
363,900
7% Change From 2023
Explore Environmental Engineers video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Develop plans for new water resources or water efficiency programs.
- Conduct environmental impact studies related to water and wastewater collection, treatment, or distribution.
- Provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel.
- Oversee the construction of decentralized or on-site wastewater treatment systems, including reclaimed water facilities.
- Analyze storm water or floodplain drainage systems to control erosion, stabilize river banks, repair channel streams, or design bridges.
- Perform hydrological analyses, using three-dimensional simulation software, to model the movement of water or forecast the dispersion of chemical pollutants in the water supply.
- Perform hydraulic analyses of water supply systems or water distribution networks to model flow characteristics, test for pressure losses, or to identify opportunities to mitigate risks and improve operational efficiency.
- Design sludge treatment plants.
- Evaluate the operation and maintenance of water or wastewater systems to identify ways to improve their efficiency.
- Identify design alternatives for the development of new water resources.
- Conduct water quality studies to identify and characterize water pollutant sources.
- Provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel.
- Design or select equipment for use in wastewater processing to ensure compliance with government standards.
- Conduct cost-benefit analyses for the construction of water supply systems, runoff collection networks, water and wastewater treatment plants, or wastewater collection systems.
- Design water runoff collection networks, water supply channels, or water supply system networks.
- Provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel.
- Perform mathematical modeling of underground or surface water resources, such as floodplains, ocean coastlines, streams, rivers, or wetlands.
- 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.
- Analyze and recommend chemical, biological, or other wastewater treatment methods to prepare water for industrial or domestic use.
- Design water storage tanks or other water storage facilities.
- Write technical reports or publications related to water resources development or water use efficiency.
- Evaluate the operation and maintenance of water or wastewater systems to identify ways to improve their efficiency.
- Design water or wastewater lift stations, including water wells.
- 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.
- Analyze and recommend sludge treatment or disposal methods.
- Provide technical support on water resource or treatment issues to government agencies.
- Gather and analyze water use data to forecast water demand.
- Review and critique proposals, plans, or designs related to water or wastewater treatment systems.
- Design pumping systems, pumping stations, pipelines, force mains, or sewers for the collection of wastewater.
- Design water distribution systems for potable or non-potable water.
- Design or select equipment for use in wastewater processing to ensure compliance with government standards.
- Analyze the efficiency of water delivery structures, such as dams, tainter gates, canals, pipes, penstocks, or cofferdams.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")