The wastewater treatment field, like so many others, is changing rapidly. New plants are being constructed and old plants are being modified and enlarged to handle the waste¬water from our growing population and to treat the new chemi¬cals being produced by our space-age technology. Operators, maintenance personnel, foremen, managers, instrumentation experts, and laboratory technicians are sorely needed.
A look at past records and future predictions indicates that wastewater treatment is a rapidly growing field. According to our estimations , water and waste¬water treatment plant and system operators held about 1,500 jobs in 2010 (in Greece ). Almost 4 in 5 operators worked for local govern¬ments. Others worked primarily for private water, wastewater, and other systems utilities and for private waste treatment and disposal and waste management services companies. Pri¬vate firms are increasingly providing operation and management services to local governments on a contract basis. Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators were employed throughout the country, but most jobs were in larger towns and cities. Although nearly all operators worked full time, those in small towns may work only part time at the treatment plant, with the remainder of their time spent handling other municipal duties. Employment of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2014. Current information reveals that many current operators will be retiring in the near future and may create an even greater demand for operators. Factors contributing to the increase include population growth, retirement of many current operators, regulatory requirements, more sophisticated treatment, and operator certification regulations. The need for trained operators is increasing rapidly and is expected to con¬tinue to grow in the future.
Lessons:
Languages: English (EN) , Greek (EL)
