Top 12 Wastewater Operator Skills to Put on Your Resume

A well-crafted resume for a wastewater operator should spotlight a tight blend of technical know-how, quick diagnostic instincts, and relentless attention to safety and environmental rules. Emphasize the skills that run plants smoothly, keep effluent within permit, and head off trouble before alarms scream. Do that, and you’ll look like the steady hand every utility wants on the console.

Wastewater Operator Skills

1. SCADA Systems
2. Membrane Bioreactors
3. UV Disinfection
4. Activated Sludge
5. Nutrient Removal
6. Sludge Dewatering
7. Chemical Handling
8. Process Control
9. Laboratory Analysis
10. Pump Maintenance
11. Flow Measurement
12. Compliance Monitoring

1. SCADA Systems

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) lets operators watch, steer, and log plant processes in real time. Fewer surprises. Faster response. Safer water.

Why It's Important

SCADA keeps eyes on the process every second, supporting compliance, uptime, and public health. It’s the heartbeat monitor for your plant.

How to Improve SCADA Systems Skills

Strengthen accuracy, security, and responsiveness—then keep going:

1. Upgrade field devices: Modern sensors, analyzers, and actuators sharpen data quality and control.

2. Harden cybersecurity: Segment networks, enable MFA, keep systems patched, back up configs, and audit routinely.

3. Apply analytics: Trend KPIs, flag anomalies, and predict failures before they snowball.

4. Train relentlessly: Run drills, update SOPs, cross-train staff on alarms, overrides, and failover procedures.

5. Integrate smart devices: Tie in IoT/edge monitoring where it adds insight without adding noise.

6. Maintain on schedule: Calibrate inputs, test alarms, and verify historian integrity regularly.

Do the basics brilliantly, then layer in automation where it truly helps.

How to Display SCADA Systems Skills on Your Resume

2. Membrane Bioreactors

MBRs blend biological treatment with membrane filtration to deliver high-quality effluent in a compact footprint. Cleaner water, tighter control, smaller space.

Why It's Important

MBRs push effluent quality high enough for reuse in many cases and stabilize operations when loads swing.

How to Improve Membrane Bioreactors Skills

Fight fouling, protect membranes, and dial in biology:

1. Sharpen pre-treatment: Screen, grit, and equalize well to keep fats, fibers, and grit off the membranes.

2. Clean with intent: Use smart intervals for backpulses, relaxation, and chemical cleaning; verify recovery with flux data.

3. Tune aeration: Balance scouring air and oxygen demand to cut energy without inviting fouling.

4. Optimize SRT/HRT: Track MLSS/MLVSS, manage wasting, and keep biology in its sweet spot.

5. Deploy anti-fouling tactics: Consider intermittent operation profiles or gentle flux stepping to discourage cake buildup.

6. Recover energy where possible: Evaluate blowers, VFDs, and heat recovery to trim power use.

7. Keep staff current: Hands-on training, membrane care SOPs, and detailed logkeeping pay off.

Membranes reward consistency. Keep conditions stable, and they behave.

How to Display Membrane Bioreactors Skills on Your Resume

3. UV Disinfection

UV light knocks out pathogens without adding chemicals. No residuals, minimal byproducts, fast contact times.

Why It's Important

It safeguards public health and simplifies operations—no chlorine storage, no dechlorination step.

How to Improve UV Disinfection Skills

Light only works if it reaches the target. Make that happen:

1. Keep optics spotless: Clean quartz sleeves and sensors; scale or biofilm kills dose.

2. Track lamp output: Replace lamps and ballasts per hours and intensity, not just calendar time.

3. Manage flow and dose: Hold exposure time by coordinating flow equalization and dose pacing.

4. Polish upstream: Control TSS and UVT with solid pre-treatment; cloudy water steals photons.

5. Validate design: Match reactor sizing to present—and future—flows and UVT ranges.

6. Audit performance: Verify sensors, check for shadowing, and confirm dose-response with periodic bioassay or surrogates.

For deeper guidance, consult your jurisdiction’s UV manuals and manufacturer documentation for O&M specifics.

How to Display UV Disinfection Skills on Your Resume

4. Activated Sludge

Biology does the heavy lifting. Aeration feeds microbes that break down organics; clarifiers separate biomass; return flow keeps the engine humming.

Why It's Important

It’s the backbone of secondary treatment, protecting receiving waters and meeting permit limits day in, day out.

How to Improve Activated Sludge Skills

Make microbes happy and solids settle well:

1. Dial in aeration: Hit DO setpoints without overblowing; verify with profiles, not guesses.

2. Control sludge age: Manage SRT with disciplined wasting to target your process goals (carbon removal, nitrification, or both).

3. Respect loading limits: Watch F/M and hydraulic swings; equalize or step-feed when peaks surge.

4. Balance nutrients: Ensure adequate N and P for biomass health when influent is carbon-heavy or lean.

5. Waste consistently: Keep MLSS in range; erratic wasting invites bulking and poor settleability.

6. Use bioaugmentation sparingly: Additives can help in specific cases—validate with data before and after.

7. Maintain equipment: Clean weirs, check diffusers, and verify mixers; small issues multiply quickly.

Stable operations produce predictable effluent. Chasing setpoints beats chasing alarms.

How to Display Activated Sludge Skills on Your Resume

5. Nutrient Removal

Nitrogen and phosphorus must be tamed to prevent eutrophication. That means tuned biology and, where needed, smart polishing.

Why It's Important

Cutting nutrients protects waterways from algal blooms and dead zones while keeping permits intact.

How to Improve Nutrient Removal Skills

Shape the process around your limits and influent character:

1. Maximize BNR performance: Support nitrification and denitrification with zone control, internal recycle, carbon management, and precise DO control. For phosphorus, build and hold true anaerobic zones to favor PAOs.

2. Add chemical assist when needed: Alum or ferric can trim residual phosphorus—dose based on jar tests and real-time results.

3. Leverage advanced processes: MBRs, MBBRs, or tertiary filters can sharpen effluent when space or limits are tight.

4. Optimize operations: Watch HRT, SRT, pH, alkalinity, and temperature; tweak setpoints as seasons and loads shift.

Data-driven adjustments beat rule-of-thumb—trend, test, and retune.

How to Display Nutrient Removal Skills on Your Resume

6. Sludge Dewatering

Less water in sludge means fewer truckloads, lower disposal costs, and fewer headaches. Press, spin, or screw—just get it drier.

Why It's Important

Volume is money. Dewatering reduces handling, transport, and final disposal costs while improving downstream options.

How to Improve Sludge Dewatering Skills

Chase dryness without sacrificing stability:

1. Condition wisely: Select and optimize polymers/coagulants via jar testing; adjust for seasonal changes.

2. Maintain the machines: Clean belts, check wear parts, set alignments, and replace seals before they fail.

3. Tune operating parameters: Balance feed rate, pressure, belt speed, or bowl speed for each sludge type.

4. Pre-treat when justified: Thermal hydrolysis, ultrasound, or digestion tweaks can boost dewaterability.

5. Control feed quality: Keep solids, pH, and temperature in range; consistent feed means consistent cake.

6. Keep learning: Refresh operator skills and capture lessons learned in living SOPs.

7. Verify with data: Track percent solids, polymer usage, capture rate, and hauling costs—then iterate.

Measure what matters, and the cake gets better.

How to Display Sludge Dewatering Skills on Your Resume

7. Chemical Handling

From pH control to disinfection, chemicals are powerful tools. Handle them with precision and respect.

Why It's Important

Safe handling protects people, the plant, and the environment—and keeps regulators off your back.

How to Improve Chemical Handling Skills

Think safety first, then efficiency:

1. Train thoroughly: Teach hazards, SDS interpretation, and emergency response; refresh regularly.

2. Wear the right PPE: Gloves, goggles, face shields, respirators—match protection to the chemical and task.

3. Label and store correctly: Segregate incompatibles, secure storage, and keep secondary containment in good shape.

4. Prevent and prepare for spills: Install spill controls, keep kits stocked, and run drills.

5. Inspect equipment: Check tanks, day tanks, lines, injectors, and pumps for leaks and wear.

6. Know the rules: Follow local, state, and federal requirements for use, transport, and disposal.

Good habits turn risky tasks into routine work.

How to Display Chemical Handling Skills on Your Resume

8. Process Control

Monitor, adjust, repeat. Process control is the art and science of keeping treatment on target while conserving energy and chemicals.

Why It's Important

It ensures permit compliance, operational stability, and cost control—three pillars of a healthy plant.

How to Improve Process Control Skills

Let data drive decisions:

1. Watch the numbers: Flow, pH, DO, ORP, BOD/COD surrogates—trend them and set alerts for drift.

2. Right-size dosing: Use feed-forward and feedback control to match chemical addition to actual demand.

3. Calibrate and maintain: Keep instruments honest; bad readings drive bad decisions.

4. Save energy smartly: Employ VFDs, blower controls, and demand-based aeration; verify with kWh per MG treated.

5. Invest in people: Cross-train operators on troubleshooting, control loops, and seasonal playbooks.

Small, steady tweaks beat sweeping changes—tight control lives in the margins.

How to Display Process Control Skills on Your Resume

9. Laboratory Analysis

Sampling and testing verify that treatment is working as intended. Labs translate process reality into numbers you can act on.

Why It's Important

Accurate results underpin compliance, troubleshooting, and optimization. No good data, no good decisions.

How to Improve Laboratory Analysis Skills

Chase precision and consistency:

1. Standardize methods: Use recognized methods and documented SOPs; minimize variability between operators.

2. Calibrate and maintain: Schedule checks for balances, meters, spectrophotometers, and incubators.

3. Run QC diligently: Blanks, spikes, duplicates, and controls reveal drift early.

4. Keep learning: Ongoing training on techniques, safety, and new instrumentation matters.

5. Manage data well: Use a structured system to store results, track revisions, and preserve traceability.

6. Benchmark performance: External proficiency tests and accreditation raise the bar and prove capability.

Good lab work is boring—in the best possible way. Repeatable, reliable, routine.

How to Display Laboratory Analysis Skills on Your Resume

10. Pump Maintenance

Pumps keep everything moving. When they stall, the whole plant feels it.

Why It's Important

Preventive care avoids downtime, spills, and costly emergency work—while stretching equipment life.

How to Improve Pump Maintenance Skills

Be proactive, not reactive:

1. Inspect routinely: Check seals, bearings, couplings, and alignment; catch issues early.

2. Lubricate correctly: Follow manufacturer specs—type, amount, and interval matter.

3. Monitor vibration: Trend vibration and temperature to spot imbalance or bearing wear before failure.

4. Hold operating points: Keep pumps near their best efficiency point; chronic off-curve operation shortens life.

5. Keep it clean: Remove rags, grit, and debris; clogged impellers waste energy and shred reliability.

6. Document everything: Maintenance logs, run hours, repairs, and parts history inform better decisions.

Healthy pumps hum, not howl. Listen closely.

How to Display Pump Maintenance Skills on Your Resume

11. Flow Measurement

Know your flow, know your process. Everything else hangs on accurate numbers.

Why It's Important

Flow data drives dosing, loading rates, reporting, and planning. Get it wrong, and everything skews.

How to Improve Flow Measurement Skills

Accuracy takes care and the right tools:

1. Calibrate on schedule: Base intervals on manufacturer guidance and process criticality; document results.

2. Maintain sensors: Clean wetted parts and primary elements; remove fouling and check for obstructions.

3. Upgrade when justified: Consider ultrasonic or mag meters for dirty service and variable conditions.

4. Install correctly: Respect straight-run requirements, grounding, and orientation; poor installs doom accuracy.

5. Use data logging: Trend and reconcile totals; investigate drift and sudden step changes.

Trust, but verify—especially with billing or compliance flows.

How to Display Flow Measurement Skills on Your Resume

12. Compliance Monitoring

Regular checks prove performance. Sampling, reporting, and documentation tie treatment to the rules that govern it.

Why It's Important

It protects waterways and the public, avoids penalties, and builds trust with regulators and the community.

How to Improve Compliance Monitoring Skills

Make compliance boring—in a good way:

1. Adopt real-time monitoring: Use online sensors and dashboards to flag deviations before grabs tell the tale.

2. Train constantly: Keep staff current on permits, sampling methods, QA/QC, and chain-of-custody.

3. Strengthen data systems: Standardize naming, automate validation, and lock down version control for reports.

4. Maintain and calibrate: Faulty instruments create phantom violations; verify routinely.

5. Engage stakeholders: Communicate clearly with regulators and the public; transparency earns grace when issues arise.

6. Use compliance software: Centralize tasks, deadlines, permits, and evidence; choose tools vetted by your IT and QA teams.

Nail the basics, then add automation to reduce human error and late reports.

How to Display Compliance Monitoring Skills on Your Resume