Top 12 Wastewater Treatment Operator Skills to Put on Your Resume
A wastewater treatment operator guards public health and the environment by steering the complicated machinery and biology that turn dirty water into something safe to release or use again. Put the right skills front and center on your resume and you’ll signal competence, care, and readiness to run a plant that never sleeps.
Wastewater Treatment Operator Skills
- SCADA Systems
- Membrane Bioreactors
- UV Disinfection
- Activated Sludge
- Nutrient Removal
- Sludge Dewatering
- Chemical Handling
- Process Control
- Laboratory Analysis
- Pump Maintenance
- PLC Programming
- Compliance Monitoring
1. SCADA Systems
SCADA—Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition—lets operators watch and govern plant processes from a central pane of glass. Sensors speak, controllers react, alarms shout when limits are crossed. The result: efficient treatment and tight compliance.
Why It's Important
SCADA ties real-time monitoring to real-world action. It keeps aeration on point, chemical dosing steady, and outfalls within permit—protecting public health while trimming downtime.
How to Improve SCADA Systems Skills
Keep platforms current: Update servers, HMIs, and firmware to improve speed, stability, and supportability.
Harden cybersecurity: Segment OT networks, enforce strong authentication for remote access, patch routinely, and log everything.
Use actionable HMIs: Clean screens, clear trends, and alarm rationalization reduce noise and sharpen responses.
Add analytics: Historian data plus KPIs (DO, ORP, SVI, UVT, ammonia) reveal drift before it becomes a violation.
Plan redundancy: Failover servers, dual networks, backup power. No single points of failure.
Train with simulations: Tabletop drills and sandboxed HMIs build calm reflexes when alarms fire for real.
Integrate field devices smartly: Standardize tags and naming; validate scaling and units at commissioning.
How to Display SCADA Systems Skills on Your Resume
2. Membrane Bioreactors
Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) blend biological treatment with membrane filtration, squeezing out pathogens and solids to deliver crisp, high-quality effluent in a tight footprint.
Why It's Important
MBRs produce consistent, reuse-ready water, even when influent swings. Smaller basins, excellent solids separation, and reliable pathogen removal help plants meet strict limits.
How to Improve Membrane Bioreactors Skills
Tune pretreatment: Fine screening and grease removal cut ragging and fouling at the source.
Clean with intention: Alternate physical cleaning, maintenance cleans, and recovery cleans by membrane type and fouling pattern.
Dial in biology: Balance SRT/HRT and aeration to control viscosity, maintain flux, and limit fouling pressure.
Manage fouling proactively: Stabilize loading, optimize backpulse/relax cycles, and monitor transmembrane pressure trends.
Watch the details: Integrity tests, leak checks, and uniform air scour keep performance steady.
Chase energy wins: Trim aeration without starving scouring; target specific air demand reductions carefully.
How to Display Membrane Bioreactors Skills on Your Resume
3. UV Disinfection
UV systems bathe effluent in ultraviolet light, inactivating microbes without adding chemicals. No residuals to juggle. Just dose, contact time, and clarity.
Why It's Important
UV knocks down pathogens quickly and cleanly, supporting safe discharge and reuse while avoiding byproduct chemistry.
How to Improve UV Disinfection Skills
Keep it clean: Wipe sleeves, verify wipers, and control scaling. Fouled quartz robs intensity.
Control flow: Match flow to required dose. Avoid short-circuiting; maintain valid contact time.
Track UVT: Monitor UV transmittance; improve pretreatment or filtration when UVT dips.
Mind the lamps: Replace at end-of-life hours, check ballasts/drivers, and confirm intensity sensors are calibrated.
Verify dose delivery: Use validated dose-response curves and routine sensor checks to stay within spec.
How to Display UV Disinfection Skills on Your Resume
4. Activated Sludge
In activated sludge, microorganisms feast on organics under aeration, forming floc that settles out downstream. It’s living chemistry with a temper.
Why It's Important
This process is the backbone for BOD, TSS, and nutrient removal at countless plants, delivering compliant effluent day after day.
How to Improve Activated Sludge Skills
Balance oxygen: Aerate to demand—enough for biology, not so much you waste energy or shear floc.
Hold the right mass: Keep MLSS within design ranges and watch F/M to avoid bulking or starvation.
Set SRT with purpose: Target sludge age to favor nitrifiers, curb filaments, and stabilize settling.
Use selectors: Anoxic/aerobic selectors help suppress filamentous growth and tighten floc.
Guard pH and alkalinity: Most systems run best around 6.5–8.5; nitrification needs alkalinity in reserve.
Manage RAS/WAS: Tune return and wasting rates to hold blanket height steady and control SVI.
Stay vigilant: Microscopy, SVI trends, and quick jar tests catch trouble early.
How to Display Activated Sludge Skills on Your Resume
5. Nutrient Removal
Nutrient removal strips excess nitrogen and phosphorus to guard lakes and rivers from algal blooms and oxygen crashes.
Why It's Important
Keeping N and P in check protects aquatic life, keeps permits intact, and supports reuse goals where limits are tight.
How to Improve Nutrient Removal Skills
Strengthen BNR zones: Maintain true anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic environments; control internal recycle rates and DO bleed-through.
Tune carbon strategy: Balance fermentable carbon for denitrification and EBPR; consider supplemental carbon when influent is lean.
Push shortcut nitrogen: Where feasible, explore partial nitritation/anammox to cut oxygen and carbon demand.
Optimize EBPR: Provide robust anaerobic contact, manage SRT, and monitor VFA availability to empower PAOs.
Use chemicals wisely: Ferric/alum for polishing phosphorus; dose based on feedback from ortho-P monitoring.
Instrument and verify: Online NH3, NOx, PO4, and ORP data tighten control and reduce swings.
How to Display Nutrient Removal Skills on Your Resume
6. Sludge Dewatering
Dewatering squeezes water from sludge to shrink volume, cut hauling, and make downstream handling sane.
Why It's Important
Less water in the cake means fewer trips, lower costs, and more predictable solids management.
How to Improve Sludge Dewatering Skills
Condition the feed: Jar test to pick the right polymer and dose; watch temperature, pH, and percent solids.
Dial-in equipment: Set belt speed, pressure, and pond depth on belt presses; adjust G-force, feed rate, and differential speed on centrifuges.
Keep it clean: Prevent blinding with routine washdowns and scheduled maintenance on screens, belts, and nozzles.
Track metrics: Monitor capture rate, filtrate clarity, and cake solids; tweak settings based on data, not guesswork.
Consider upgrades: Screw presses, improved screens, or electro-dewatering can lift performance when conventional units plateau.
How to Display Sludge Dewatering Skills on Your Resume
7. Chemical Handling
Chemical handling covers safe receiving, storage, dosing, and disposal of treatment chemicals—without endangering people or the planet.
Why It's Important
Done right, it protects staff, prevents spills, and keeps the process humming within permit and safety rules.
How to Improve Chemical Handling Skills
Know the hazards: Review Safety Data Sheets (SDS), understand GHS labels, and brief the team before changes.
Store smart: Separate incompatibles, use secondary containment, ventilate rooms, and secure cylinders and totes.
Wear the right PPE: Match gloves, goggles, face shields, and respirators to the task and chemical.
Prepare for spills: Stock spill kits, test eyewash/showers, and drill response steps so actions are automatic.
Feed systems safely: Install backflow prevention, leak detection, and interlocks for gas and liquid systems.
Dispose responsibly: Follow local and federal rules for waste chemicals and empty containers; label everything.
How to Display Chemical Handling Skills on Your Resume
8. Process Control
Process control means watching the right numbers, nudging setpoints, and timing interventions so the plant stays stable, efficient, and compliant.
Why It's Important
Good control squeezes more treatment from the same infrastructure, reduces energy burn, and keeps effluent predictable even when influent misbehaves.
How to Improve Process Control Skills
Instrument the essentials: Reliable pH, DO, ORP, flow, level, and nutrient analyzers underpin smart decisions.
Use data, not hunches: Build trends, SPC charts, and mass balances; set alerts on drift and outliers.
Refine PIDs: Tune loops for aeration, chemical feed, and RAS so they respond fast without overshoot.
Automate prudently: Add feedback/feedforward controls and simple logic before chasing complexity.
Preventive maintenance: Calibrate probes, service actuators, and verify valves—bad instruments wreck control.
Energy awareness: Target blower turndown, pump scheduling, and off-peak operations where it won’t compromise quality.
How to Display Process Control Skills on Your Resume
9. Laboratory Analysis
Lab work checks the process pulse—grabbing, preserving, and testing samples to prove treatment works and to guide control moves.
Why It's Important
Accurate, defensible data keeps permits intact and helps operators correct course before problems surface at the outfall.
How to Improve Laboratory Analysis Skills
Standardize methods: Follow approved procedures, document steps, and use consistent units and rounding.
Calibrate and verify: Schedule calibrations; run blanks, spikes, and duplicates to confirm accuracy and precision.
Protect samples: Chain of custody, proper preservation, and holding times—no shortcuts.
Maintain instruments: Preventive maintenance and cleanliness reduce downtime and drift.
Manage data well: Use a simple LIMS or structured logs; audit trails matter.
Keep skills fresh: Cross-train analysts, validate new methods, and do periodic proficiency checks.
How to Display Laboratory Analysis Skills on Your Resume
10. Pump Maintenance
Pumps move everything—raw sewage, mixed liquor, sludge, filtrate. If they fail, everything else suffers.
Why It's Important
Solid maintenance prevents breakdowns, trims energy use, and extends equipment life, which saves both money and headaches.
How to Improve Pump Maintenance Skills
Inspect routinely: Look for leaks, heat, unusual noise, and vibration. Small clues, big warnings.
Lubricate correctly: Use the right lubricant, the right amount, at the right interval.
Align and anchor: Laser alignment and sturdy baseplates curb wear; soft-foot checks matter.
Mind hydraulics: Avoid cavitation—watch NPSH, suction strainers, and impeller condition/clearance.
Monitor condition: Trend vibration, temperature, and power draw to catch issues early.
Stock the essentials: Seals, gaskets, bearings, and a clear PM schedule keep downtime short.
How to Display Pump Maintenance Skills on Your Resume
11. PLC Programming
PLC programming shapes how the plant behaves—interlocks, sequences, alarms, and logic that orchestrate treatment while operators guide the show.
Why It's Important
Well-written code improves reliability, speeds troubleshooting, and locks in compliance-friendly control.
How to Improve PLC Programming Skills
Master the fundamentals: IEC 61131-3 languages (ladder, function block, structured text) and solid tag naming go a long way.
Document relentlessly: Comment logic, version-control changes, and maintain up-to-date I/O lists and P&IDs.
Test before deploy: Use simulators and test benches; stage changes and validate fail-safes and alarms.
Design for maintainers: Clear HMI states, alarm rationalization, and intuitive sequences help operators help the plant.
Build in safety: Hardwired interlocks for critical functions; watchdogs and safe states on power loss.
Secure the controls: Role-based access, change logs, and network segmentation protect uptime and integrity.
How to Display PLC Programming Skills on Your Resume
12. Compliance Monitoring
Compliance monitoring verifies that what leaves the plant meets permits—every sample, every report, every limit.
Why It's Important
It protects waterways, shields the utility from penalties, and builds trust with the community.
How to Improve Compliance Monitoring Skills
Stay current: Track permit changes, new limits, and required methods; refresh SOPs when rules shift.
Standardize sampling: Correct locations, composite protocols, preservation, and holding times—no guesswork.
Tighten QA/QC: Blanks, duplicates, spikes, and data validation steps make results defensible.
Maintain the record: Clean logs, eDMRs done on time, and traceable corrective actions after excursions.
Audit yourself: Internal audits and drills surface gaps before inspectors do.
How to Display Compliance Monitoring Skills on Your Resume
