Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Also called: Drain Cleaner, Septic Pump Truck Driver, Septic Tank Service Technician, Service TechnicianClean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or drains. May patch walls and partitions of tank, replace damaged drain tile, or repair breaks in underground piping.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 3 of its 22 tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 7.8% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.9 hires for every 10 job openings in professional and business services, which employs about 61% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.9 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $47,370 | $43,020 to $54,950 | 400 |
| Alaska | $57,720 | $56,880 to $67,530 | 280 |
| Arizona | $47,670 | $38,250 to $57,860 | 590 |
| Arkansas | $38,330 | $36,660 to $42,560 | not published |
| California | $55,220 | $46,780 to $61,950 | 3,130 |
| Colorado | $51,700 | $46,920 to $63,330 | 500 |
| Connecticut | $60,700 | $59,480 to $67,700 | 280 |
| Delaware | $48,440 | $39,640 to $52,940 | 30 |
| Florida | $46,150 | $37,980 to $57,090 | 1,330 |
| Georgia | $51,880 | $39,500 to $61,820 | 590 |
| Hawaii | $54,530 | $49,750 to $71,860 | 80 |
| Idaho | $46,860 | $38,310 to $53,340 | 230 |
| Illinois | $53,190 | $40,630 to $73,280 | 1,210 |
| Indiana | $48,380 | $43,690 to $58,090 | 770 |
| Iowa | $57,980 | $49,350 to $63,920 | 630 |
| Kansas | $46,960 | $39,570 to $48,480 | 150 |
| Kentucky | $43,980 | $38,660 to $49,070 | 280 |
| Louisiana | $48,900 | $46,680 to $57,210 | 500 |
| Maine | $48,530 | $42,580 to $50,760 | 160 |
| Maryland | $56,410 | $47,570 to $62,400 | 160 |
| Massachusetts | $53,080 | $48,000 to $67,710 | 620 |
| Michigan | $50,040 | $47,160 to $58,210 | 1,080 |
| Minnesota | $62,190 | $60,010 to $70,400 | 240 |
| Mississippi | $38,870 | $31,130 to $49,550 | 230 |
| Missouri | $51,560 | $46,940 to $55,650 | 1,160 |
| Montana | $56,860 | $45,540 to $59,940 | 290 |
| Nebraska | $66,890 | $44,230 to $71,570 | 300 |
| Nevada | $60,180 | $46,940 to $61,910 | 220 |
| New Hampshire | $64,590 | $55,460 to $76,910 | 310 |
| New Jersey | $64,650 | $58,870 to $78,330 | 220 |
| New Mexico | $40,230 | $36,750 to $46,410 | 160 |
| New York | $55,220 | $45,740 to $62,240 | 1,550 |
| North Carolina | $47,280 | $40,420 to $51,940 | 1,020 |
| North Dakota | $46,340 | $44,080 to $59,220 | 70 |
| Ohio | $50,750 | $46,330 to $61,450 | 1,000 |
| Oklahoma | $40,960 | $37,310 to $49,250 | 670 |
| Oregon | $57,920 | $45,630 to $64,710 | 560 |
| Pennsylvania | $52,070 | $46,400 to $62,140 | 1,530 |
| South Carolina | $46,660 | $36,410 to $53,230 | 640 |
| South Dakota | $40,040 | $37,780 to $49,410 | 120 |
| Tennessee | $39,480 | $35,740 to $44,500 | 550 |
| Texas | $43,860 | $37,300 to $50,680 | 2,430 |
| Utah | $49,770 | $47,780 to $59,970 | 200 |
| Vermont | $46,140 | $39,780 to $61,250 | 140 |
| Virginia | $47,150 | $39,050 to $56,850 | 890 |
| Washington | $63,090 | $56,770 to $75,670 | 1,600 |
| West Virginia | $36,200 | $31,030 to $38,700 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | $57,340 | $47,910 to $62,780 | 1,050 |
| Wyoming | $47,520 | $42,010 to $55,120 | 90 |
Nationally: $49,880. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 3 of its 22 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Drive trucks to transport crews, materials, and equipment. | Not published |
| AI + software | Communicate with supervisors and other workers, using equipment such as wireless phones, pagers, or radio telephones. | Not published |
| Not much | Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or related structures such as manholes, culverts, and catch basins. | Not published |
| Not much | Service, adjust, and make minor repairs to equipment, machines, and attachments. | Not published |
| Not much | Operate sewer cleaning equipment, including power rodders, high-velocity water jets, sewer flushers, bucket machines, wayne balls, and vac-alls. | Not published |
| Not much | Inspect manholes to locate sewer line stoppages. | Not published |
See all 22 tasks
| Not much | Dig out sewer lines manually, using shovels. | Not published |
| Not much | Locate problems, using specially designed equipment, and mark where digging must occur to reach damaged tanks or pipes. | Not published |
| AI + software | Prepare and keep records of actions taken, including maintenance and repair work. | Not published |
| Not much | Measure excavation sites, using plumbers' snakes, tapelines, or lengths of cutting heads within sewers, and mark areas for digging. | Not published |
| Not much | Ensure that repaired sewer line joints are tightly sealed before backfilling begins. | Not published |
| Not much | Withdraw cables from pipes and examine them for evidence of mud, roots, grease, and other deposits indicating broken or clogged sewer lines. | Not published |
| Not much | Requisition or order tools and equipment. | Not published |
| Not much | Cover repaired pipes with dirt, and pack backfilled excavations, using air and gasoline tampers. | Not published |
| Not much | Break asphalt and other pavement so that pipes can be accessed, using airhammers, picks, and shovels. | Not published |
| Not much | Cut damaged sections of pipe with cutters, remove broken sections from ditches, and replace pipe sections, using pipe sleeves. | Not published |
| AI alone | Update sewer maps and manhole charts. | Not published |
| Not much | Clean and disinfect domestic basements and other areas flooded by sewer stoppages. | Not published |
| Not much | Start machines to feed revolving cables or rods into openings, stopping machines and changing knives to conform to pipe sizes. | Not published |
| Not much | Install rotary knives on flexible cables mounted on machine reels, according to the diameters of pipes to be cleaned. | Not published |
| Not much | Rotate cleaning rods manually, using turning pins. | Not published |
| Not much | Tap mainline sewers to install sewer saddles. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 0 of the 22 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 22 tasks fall under 17 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #9 Edit written materials or documents
- #36 Purchase goods or services
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas | |||
| Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment | |||
| Set up equipment | |||
| Maintain facilities or equipment | |||
| Maintain tools or equipment | |||
| Perform general construction or extraction activities | |||
| Operate construction or excavation equipment | |||
| Edit written materials or documents |
Show all 17 activities
| Purchase goods or services | |||
| Communicate with others about operational plans or activities | |||
| Assess characteristics of land or property | |||
| Inspect completed work or finished products | |||
| Dispose of waste or debris | |||
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Cut materials | |||
| Operate transportation equipment or vehicles | |||
| Drill holes in earth or materials |
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved in from
of 444 moves in
- 1 First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers Very high +0.1% 22%
- 2 Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping Very high -6.2% 14%
- 3 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 7%
- 4 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Low +1.8% 6%
- 5 Sales Managers High +4.5% 6%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 37% less than high school
- 40% high school
- 22% postsecondary certificate
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 27 people answered.
1 program: Plumbing Technology/Plumber.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (Wastewater Utilities Maintenance Technician). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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