Will AI replace Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
13/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 23% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 25% of the work
What the job involves
Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(2)
- Record operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms.
- Direct and coordinate plant workers engaged in routine operations and maintenance activities.
Out of reach(6)
- Collect and test water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards.
- Operate and adjust controls on equipment to purify and clarify water, process or dispose of sewage, and generate power.
- Add chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, or lime, to disinfect and deodorize water and other liquids.
- Inspect equipment or monitor operating conditions, meters, and gauges to determine load requirements and detect malfunctions.
- Clean and maintain tanks, filter beds, and other work areas, using hand tools and power tools.
and 1 more
Also called
Water Treatment Plant Operator · WWTP Operator · Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator (WWTP Operator) · Plant Operator · Wastewater Operator (WW Operator) · Water Plant Operator · Clarifying Plant Operator · Waste Treatment Operator
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics