Also called: Sewer Maintenance Worker, Vactor Truck Operator, Combination Truck Operator
Cleans and repairs the underground sewer pipes of a city, using huge vacuum trucks and high-pressure water jets.
You pull up to a backed-up manhole in a giant truck and feed a high-pressure hose into the pipe to blast out grease and roots. Then you vacuum up the mess. Later you help fix a collapsed pipe and check lift stations around town.
Estimated from BLS septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school and a commercial driver's license; state collections certification.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners.
Low risk for 10 years. Robot cameras inspect pipes, but jetting, vacuuming and fixing sewers is dirty hands-on work.
Classes: Driver's education, Shop class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-4071.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.