Water treatment operator vs outside operator

The differences between water treatment operators and outside operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a water treatment operator and an outside operator. Additionally, a water treatment operator has an average salary of $48,112, which is higher than the $40,793 average annual salary of an outside operator.

The top three skills for a water treatment operator include water treatment plant, SCADA and water samples. The most important skills for an outside operator are patrol, golf carts, and cart barn.

Water treatment operator vs outside operator overview

	Water Treatment Operator	Outside Operator
Yearly salary	$48,112	$40,793
Hourly rate	$23.13	$19.61
Growth rate	-7%	-7%
Number of jobs	32,838	47,129
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	12	12

Water treatment operator vs outside operator salary

Water treatment operators and outside operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Water Treatment Operator	Outside Operator
Average salary	$48,112	$40,793
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $65,000	Between $29,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Los Angeles, CA	-
Highest paying state	Washington	-
Best paying company	Jacobs Engineering Group	-
Best paying industry	Energy	-

Differences between water treatment operator and outside operator education

There are a few differences between a water treatment operator and an outside operator in terms of educational background:

	Water Treatment Operator	Outside Operator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians	Business
Most common college	Duke University	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Water treatment operator vs outside operator demographics

Here are the differences between water treatment operators' and outside operators' demographics:

	Water Treatment Operator	Outside Operator
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 91.0% Female, 9.0%	Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 1.8% White, 70.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.6%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 1.8% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.3%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between water treatment operator and outside operator duties and responsibilities

Water treatment operator example responsibilities.

Manage chemical transfers and plant feed, abiding by OSHA regulations.
Monitor ground water treatment facility through SCADA computer system and data collection and analysis.
Handle blowers, thickeners, SBR's, effluent and influent pumps, and sludge blanket judges.
Maintain, troubleshoot, and repair all instrumentation.
Complete necessary math equations and paperwork for plant records.
Inventory on PPE supplies, solvents, and chemicals.

Outside operator example responsibilities.

Manage multiple large volume fermentation tanks simultaneously.
Used LOTO, permitting and procedures to ensure safe release of equipment.
Monitor process and equipment operating conditions through field gauges and DCS readings.
Perform facility wide LOTO on all equipment that work are to be perform on.
Load acrylamide, acrylic acid, and caustic onto trailers and railcars using industry standard PPE.
Monitor and adjust distillation variables such as: temperature, flow rate, pressure, and time.

Water treatment operator vs outside operator skills

Common water treatment operator skills

Water Treatment Plant, 8%
SCADA, 6%
Water Samples, 5%
Plant Equipment, 4%
Process Control, 4%
Water Quality, 4%

Common outside operator skills

Patrol, 27%
Golf Carts, 10%
Cart Barn, 6%
Outside Operations, 5%
Golf Balls, 4%
Cart Fleet, 4%

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Water Treatment Operator
Water Treatment Operator vs Outside Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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