Water / Wastewater Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Water or Wastewater Engineer specializes in the treatment and management of contaminated water. Designs sewage systems and water treatment plants.
Job Outlook
There were 673 Water / Wastewater Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 16419 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Water / Wastewater Engineer industry, which includes the Water / Wastewater Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Water / Wastewater Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $104,136.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $95,618.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Water / Wastewater Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $86,514.
Education and Experience
Posted Water / Wastewater Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 82.97% |
| Master's Degree | 36.02% |
| Doctoral Degree | 3.44% |
| Other | 1.07% |
Posted Water / Wastewater Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 19.29% |
| 3 to 5 years | 33.05% |
| 6 to 8 years | 22.18% |
| 9+ years | 25.48% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Water / Wastewater Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Planning (41.47%)
- Communication (39.27%)
- Management (36.02%)
- Leadership (21.19%)
- Writing (20.4%)
- Mentorship (19.71%)
- Coordinating (19.56%)
- Research (18.13%)
- Microsoft Office (16.88%)
- Operations (15.49%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Water/Wastewater Engineering (12.11%)
- Water Quality (7.59%)
- Water Resources (30.53%)
- Water Treatment (22.08%)
- Stormwater Management (25.5%)
- Sewage Treatments (27.77%)
- Wastewater (56.56%)
- Project Management (48.14%)
- Hydraulic Engineering (11.54%)
- Hydrology (20.42%)
- HEC-RAS (13.31%)
- Environmental Engineering (29.97%)
- Engineering Design Process (20.6%)
- Civil Engineering (39.66%)
- Business Development (23.66%)
- AutoCAD (20.43%)
- HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Modeling System) (9.07%)
- Pump Stations (16.98%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Project Delivery (6.94%)
- Water Distribution (8.69%)
- Technical Writing (10.68%)
- Business Strategies (2.69%)
- Risk Analysis (1.63%)
- Rehabilitation (7.5%)
- MicroStation (CAD Design Software) (8.98%)
- Mechanical Engineering (8.3%)
- Hydraulics (15.53%)
- Field Research (4.16%)
- Engineering Management (7.69%)
- Engineering Calculations (13.53%)
- Process Engineering (9.05%)
- Feasibility Studies (4.64%)
- Construction Management (11.11%)
- Contract Management (4.24%)
- Chemical Engineering (10.33%)
- Construction (14.66%)
- Data Analysis (8.59%)
- Electrical Engineering (3.05%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (12.36%)
- Computer-Aided Design (14.29%)
- Geographic Information Systems (2.69%)
- Project Implementation (11.15%)
- Project Engineering (9.16%)
- AutoCAD Civil 3D (16.43%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Wastewater Design (4.57%)
- Drainage Design (3.12%)
- Water Quality Analysis (3.8%)
- Green Infrastructure (3.2%)
- Spillway (1.31%)
- Stream Restoration (3.33%)
- Mass Balance (3.12%)
- Hydrologic Modeling (2.23%)
- Flood Controls (3.62%)
- Hydraulic Calculations (3.14%)
- Hydrologic Analysis (4.21%)
- WaterCAD (2.93%)
- Industrial Wastewater (4.89%)
- Hydraulic Analysis (4.91%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Pump Stations (30.22%)
- Wastewater Design (8.13%)
- Drainage Design (5.56%)
- Stormwater Management (45.38%)
- Water Treatment (39.28%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Water / Wastewater Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Water/Wastewater Engineer
- Water Resources Engineer
- Wastewater Engineer
- Water/Wastewater Project Engineer
- Civil/Water Resources Engineer
- Water Engineer
- Civil Water Engineer
- Wastewater Process Engineer
- Wastewater Treatment Operator
- Water Treatment Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Civil Engineer
- Water Resource Specialist
- Civil Engineering Manager
- Transportation Engineer
- Environmental Engineer
- Water Treatment Specialist / Waste Water Operator
- Civil Engineering Technician
- Hydrologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Water / Wastewater Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Black & Veatch (1858)
- Stantec (462)
- AECOM (427)
- Jacobs Solutions (405)
- HDR (360)
- WSP Global (330)
- GPAC (328)
- Kimley-Horn (271)
- Arcadis (267)
- Cadmus International Limited (256)
North Carolina
- Black & Veatch (180)
- Jobot (30)
- Thomas And Hutton (20)
- Colliers Engineering & Design (18)
- State of North Carolina (18)
- Ljb (17)
- Mcgill Associates, P.A. (15)
- Short Elliot Hendrickson (14)
- Bridge And Stream Engineering (13)
- Stantec (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Biological and Agricultural Engineering Master's Degrees
- Civil Engineering Master's Degrees
- Environmental Engineering Master's Degrees
- Watershed Assessment and Restoration Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.