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What does an irrigation technician do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

An irrigation technician is responsible for installing, testing, and maintaining irrigation equipment such as sprinklers, suction valves, and pumps. Typical duties for this position include operating heavy machinery for trenching, installing wiring systems for irrigation timers, and inspecting equipment for a day's work. In addition, an irrigation technician may be required to travel to the client's location to install, test, or perform preventative maintenance of irrigation equipment. You are also expected to dig trenches and install lines and pipes and troubleshoot and replace faulty parts.

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Irrigation technician responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real irrigation technician resumes:

  • Manage hardscape installation team and project
  • Work with irrigation equipment such as sprinklers, water lines, pumps, suction devices, valves and other plumbing equipment.
  • Used hand and power tools to dig trenches and lay PVC and other pipes for landscape and sprinkler systems.
  • Install, troubleshoot and repair valves.
  • Dig shallow wells and install electrical pump.
  • Rake leaves and prune shrubs as needed.
  • DOT examination pass for commercial vehicles and trailers.
  • Mulch, fertilize, water, and prune flowering plants.
  • Used appropriate machinery to dig trenches and pull pipes for new installations.
  • Mow all turf to various orders for each portion of the grounds.
  • Operate many types of heavy equipment such as mini-excavators, backhoes, and trenchers.
  • Train and qualify for half mask, full mask, and force air respirators.
  • Install and make repairs on PVC and poly pipe along with every sprinkler head imaginable.
  • Job duties are to install, troubleshoot, and deactivate systems for the winter season months
  • Maintain and manicure lawns (mower, shovels, raking, trimming, etc . )

Irrigation technician skills and personality traits

We calculated that 16% of Irrigation Technicians are proficient in Golf Courses, Trenchers, and Sprinkler Heads. They’re also known for soft skills such as Self-motivated, Color vision, and Math skills.

We break down the percentage of Irrigation Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Golf Courses, 16%

    Coordinated with a team of four to maintain and repair irrigation systems on two, eighteen hole golf courses.

  • Trenchers, 9%

    Operated many types of heavy equipment such as mini-excavators, backhoes, and trenchers.

  • Sprinkler Heads, 7%

    Operate irrigation controllers, pipes and sprinkler heads as well as work with all electrical wiring required to operate the system.

  • Customer Service, 7%

    Installed irrigation systems, provided customer service.

  • Taking Care, 6%

    Worked as a landscaper taking care of lawns, planter beds, shrubbery and trees.

  • Work Ethic, 6%

    Installed and help supervise an installation crew Demonstrated leadership through a systematic work ethic

Common skills that an irrigation technician uses to do their job include "golf courses," "trenchers," and "sprinkler heads." You can find details on the most important irrigation technician responsibilities below.

Self-motivated. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an irrigation technician to have is self-motivated. Their role and responsibilities require that "because they often work with little supervision, grounds maintenance workers must be able to do their tasks independently." Irrigation technicians often use self-motivated in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "diagnosed and troubleshooter unix, ios and windows processing problems and self-motivated with exceptional applied solutions to increase company efficiency. "

Physical strength. A commonly-found skill in irrigation technician job descriptions, "physical strength" is essential to what irrigation technicians do. Irrigation technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "these workers may need to be able to lift heavy equipment or supplies." You can also see how irrigation technician duties rely on physical strength in this resume example: "provide excellent lawn care to multiple private and commercial properties, high amount of strength and endurance involved"

Most common irrigation technician skills

The three companies that hire the most irrigation technicians are:

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Compare different irrigation technicians

Irrigation technician vs. Keeper

A storekeeper is responsible for managing all a store's operations and overseeing the care and maintenance of stocks, including inventory management. Your duties will include receiving, unloading, and shelving supplies, inspecting deliveries for discrepancies and damage, and managing all documentation. In addition, you will be responsible for maintaining inventory control and coordinating freight handling. You are also responsible for planning campaigns to promote new products, mediating any conflicts between clients and staff, maintaining a sales record, and purchasing new products.

The annual salary of keepers is $1,866 lower than the average salary of irrigation technicians.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between irrigation technicians and keeper. For instance, irrigation technician responsibilities require skills such as "golf courses," "trenchers," "sprinkler heads," and "customer service." Whereas a keeper is skilled in "guest rooms," "dependability," "excellent guest," and "animal husbandry." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Keepers tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,817. In contrast, irrigation technicians make the biggest average salary, $35,738, in the construction industry.On average, keepers reach similar levels of education than irrigation technicians. Keepers are 2.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Irrigation technician vs. Landscape crew leader

A landscape crew leader works hand-in-hand with a Foreman during the landscape project installation. This professional represents the organization's best interest and maintains top-notch professionalism and integrity. Besides maintaining a clean project site and a fully equipped and orderly equipment trailer, a landscape crew leader also manages and instructs the team to create a top-notch and profitable product even in the absence of a Foreman. Moreover, landscape crew leaders teach and train team members to follow the right procedures and processes.

Landscape crew leader positions earn higher pay than irrigation technician roles. They earn a $2,914 higher salary than irrigation technicians per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both irrigation technicians and landscape crew leaders have skills such as "trenchers," "customer service," and "taking care. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, irrigation technician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "golf courses," "sprinkler heads," "strong work ethic," and "hand tools." Meanwhile, a landscape crew leader has duties that require skills in areas such as "landscape maintenance," "landscape installation," "dump truck," and "landscape equipment." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Landscape crew leaders may earn a higher salary than irrigation technicians, but landscape crew leaders earn the most pay in the utilities industry with an average salary of $50,773. On the other hand, irrigation technicians receive higher pay in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $35,738.In general, landscape crew leaders achieve similar levels of education than irrigation technicians. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Irrigation technician vs. Landscape labour

When it comes to landscape labor, one of the primary responsibilities is to perform landscape support tasks such as trimming the lawn, digging holes, planting flowers and trees, placing garden designs, and installing devices such as sprinkler systems. The majority of the tasks require physical work; there are instances where they must create structures such as ponds, fences, borders, patios, and other outdoor features. Furthermore, most of the tasks are in a group setting, which is why it is essential to coordinate with team members and adhere to the directives of supervisors or clients.

An average landscape labour eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of irrigation technicians. The difference in salaries amounts to landscape labours earning a $6,425 lower average salary than irrigation technicians.By looking over several irrigation technicians and landscape labours resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "golf courses," "hand tools," and "grounds maintenance." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an irrigation technician is likely to be skilled in "trenchers," "sprinkler heads," "customer service," and "taking care," while a typical landscape labour is skilled in "mow lawns," "landscape maintenance," "dump truck," and "edge lawns."

Landscape labours make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $29,929. On the other hand, irrigation technicians are paid the highest salary in the construction industry, with average annual pay of $35,738.landscape labours typically earn similar educational levels compared to irrigation technicians. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Irrigation technician vs. Grounds keeper

A groundskeeper's job responsibility is to maintain and modify outdoor areas such as college campuses, parks, gardens, etc. Your major duty is to carry out routine maintenance, planting, and gardening of a business or park's landscape. You may have to perform duties like mowing and maintaining lawns, planting new greenery, and trimming shrubs. Other duties you may likely carry out are watering, fertilizing, mulching, and applying pesticides. In all, the goal is to maintain the grounds of the place where you work.

Grounds keepers average a lower salary than the annual salary of irrigation technicians. The difference is about $4,937 per year.While their salaries may vary, irrigation technicians and grounds keepers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "grounds maintenance," "grass," and "mowing. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between irrigation technicians and grounds keepers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an irrigation technician might have more use for skills like "golf courses," "trenchers," "sprinkler heads," and "customer service." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of grounds keepers require skills like "pet," "minor maintenance," "de-icing," and "cleanliness. "

Grounds keepers enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $32,958. For comparison, irrigation technicians earn the highest salary in the construction industry.grounds keepers reach similar levels of education compared to irrigation technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of irrigation technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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