What do they do?
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
No Data Available
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1.8%
Change
Ranks #53 in job growth rate540Job Openings
Ranks #19 in net job growth
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- Bachelor's degree (59%)
- Master's degree (26%)
- Doctorate or Professional Degree (4%)
- Some college, no degree (4%)
- Associate's degree (4%)
- High school diploma equivalent (2%)
- Less than high school diploma (1%)
Most Popular Majors that prepare Water/Wastewater Engineers
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#1
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Degrees Granted
14,501
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Female Students
3,966
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Male Students
10,535
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Median Starting Salary
$57,200
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-
#2
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Degrees Granted
606
-
Female Students
75
-
Male Students
531
-
Median Starting Salary
$59,800
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-
#3
-
Degrees Granted
155
-
Female Students
45
-
Male Students
110
-
Median Starting Salary
$58,700
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-
#4
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Degrees Granted
22
-
Female Students
9
-
Male Students
13
-
Median Starting Salary
$57,200
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#5
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Degrees Granted
17
-
Female Students
1
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Male Students
16
-
Median Starting Salary
$57,200
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People in this career often have these skills:
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
People in this career often know a lot about:
- 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.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
People in this career often have talent in:
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Number Facility - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
People in this career often do these activities:
- Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
- Provide technical guidance to other personnel.
- Recommend technical design or process changes to improve efficiency, quality, or performance.
- Evaluate designs or specifications to ensure quality.
- Design civil structures or systems.
- Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
- Evaluate characteristics of equipment or systems.
- Select tools, equipment, or technologies for use in operations or projects.
- Design industrial processing systems.
- Investigate the environmental impact of projects.
- Develop technical methods or processes.
- Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.
- Advise others regarding green practices or environmental concerns.
- Research advanced engineering designs or applications.
- Analyze physical, survey, or geographic data.
- Direct environmental development activities.
- Prepare detailed work plans.
- Create models of engineering designs or methods.
- Analyze operational data to evaluate operations, processes or products.
- Prepare technical or operational reports.
- Design structures or facilities.
This page includes data from:
Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA
Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics
Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development
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