Also called: Lead Pipe Replacement Technician, Water Service Line Installer
Digs up and replaces the old lead pipes that carry drinking water from the street into homes, as required by new federal rules.
Your crew uses a small excavator to open a pit at the curb and another by the house. You pull a new copper or plastic line through underground, connect it to the water main and the meter, and flush it while the family watches.
Estimated; city utilities and contractors.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0.5 years after high school. High school plus on-the-job training; some join utility or laborer apprenticeships.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Apprenticeship. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: None required, Plumbing (trade school).
Growing much faster than average. Federal rules require most of the nation’s 9 million lead lines to be replaced within about 10 years.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps predict which homes have lead pipes; replacing them underground stays hands-on.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to utility contractors or the Laborers union for crew jobs
Classes: Construction tech, Chemistry, Earth science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-2152.
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.