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What does a wastewater project engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

A wastewater project engineer is responsible for overseeing projects that involve the provision of potable water, prevention of flood damage, and the disposal of sewage or wastewater. Wastewater project engineers are tasked with data management and analysis, regulatory program compliance, and fieldwork. They must have a university degree and excellent communication skills.

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Wastewater project engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real wastewater project engineer resumes:

  • Manage custom product design & generate all require documentation for both customer and manufacturing groups using AutoCAD rel.
  • Contribute to successful investments in water and energy-from-waste projects in the UK by conducting in-depth project analysis and regulatory due diligence.
  • Contribute to successful investments in water and energy-from-waste projects in the UK by conducting in-depth project analysis and regulatory due diligence.

Wastewater project engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 29% of Wastewater Project Engineers are proficient in Autocad, Pump Stations, and Data Collection. They’re also known for soft skills such as Imagination, Reading skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Wastewater Project Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Autocad, 29%

    Managed and Created AutoCAD Mechanical and Inventor Drawings and Models for various projects and custom manufactured automated wash system equipment.

  • Pump Stations, 19%

    Provide guidance and supervise project team members for the design of the sewer network and pump stations.

  • Data Collection, 16%

    Maintained data collection equipment prior to and during Developmental and Operational Test Exercises.

  • Wastewater Treatment, 13%

    Prepared detailed design of wastewater treatment plant, five pumping stations, and 1.5 meters in diameter gravity force-main.

  • Construction Management, 10%

    Fulfilled multiple discipline roles in project management, process engineering, equipment engineering, and construction management for many projects simultaneously.

  • EPA, 3%

    Project to be presented at the EPA, P3 National Sustainable Design

Most wastewater project engineers use their skills in "autocad," "pump stations," and "data collection" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential wastewater project engineer responsibilities here:

Imagination. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a wastewater project engineer to have is imagination. Their role and responsibilities require that "environmental engineers sometimes have to design systems that will be part of larger ones." Wastewater project engineers often use imagination in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "create designs using cae tools such as autodesk inventor and autocad 2012"

Reading skills. Another essential skill to perform wastewater project engineer duties is reading skills. Wastewater project engineers responsibilities require that "environmental engineers often work with businesspeople, lawyers, and other professionals outside their field." Wastewater project engineers also use reading skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "developed an asp.net website that displayed real time voc readings from a microsoft sql server. "

Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of wastewater project engineers is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday wastewater project engineer duties, as "environmental engineers must write clearly so that others without their specific training can understand their documents, including plans, proposals, specifications, and findings, among others." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "prepare submittal packages and rfi's for gc, aid in writing bid proposals, help to seek new contracts"

Problem-solving skills. For certain wastewater project engineer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a wastewater project engineer rely on this skill, as "when designing facilities and processes, environmental engineers strive to solve several issues at once, from workers’ safety to environmental protection." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what wastewater project engineers do: "facilitated use of appropriate lean product development tools to support cost-effective technical solutions. "

See the full list of wastewater project engineer skills

Compare different wastewater project engineers

Wastewater project engineer vs. Director water and waste services

Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.

If we compare the average wastewater project engineer annual salary with that of a director water and waste services, we find that directors water and waste services typically earn a $41,042 higher salary than wastewater project engineers make annually.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, wastewater project engineer responsibilities require skills like "autocad," "civil 3d," "pump stations," and "construction administration." Meanwhile a typical director water and waste services has skills in areas such as "hazardous waste," "wastewater projects," "dot," and "educational sessions." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Directors water and waste services tend to reach higher levels of education than wastewater project engineers. In fact, directors water and waste services are 21.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Wastewater project engineer vs. Surface water manager

Surface water manager positions earn lower pay than wastewater project engineer roles. They earn a $17,902 lower salary than wastewater project engineers per year.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, wastewater project engineer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "autocad," "civil 3d," "pump stations," and "construction administration." Meanwhile, a surface water manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "plumbing," "water treatment plant," "water samples," and "process control." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

In general, surface water managers achieve higher levels of education than wastewater project engineers. They're 8.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Wastewater project engineer vs. Engineer

On average scale, engineers bring in higher salaries than wastewater project engineers. In fact, they earn a $15,896 higher salary per year.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from wastewater project engineer resumes include skills like "autocad," "civil 3d," "pump stations," and "construction administration," whereas an engineer is more likely to list skills in "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #. "

Most engineers achieve a higher degree level compared to wastewater project engineers. For example, they're 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Wastewater project engineer vs. Water systems designer

Water systems designers typically earn higher pay than wastewater project engineers. On average, water systems designers earn a $754 higher salary per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "autocad," "civil 3d," "pump stations," and "construction administration" are skills that commonly show up on wastewater project engineer resumes. On the other hand, water systems designers use skills like gis, water quality, auto cad, and drawing packages on their resumes.In general, water systems designers hold higher degree levels compared to wastewater project engineers. Water systems designers are 14.8% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 3.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of wastewater project engineer

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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