There’s nothing more refreshing than a glass of cold water on a hot day, or a steaming cup of tea on a cold winter night. We count on water resource specialists to make sure our water supply is clean, safe, and accessible, so we can sustain ourselves and our daily activities. It may surprise you to learn of the complexity of our water supply regulation. Water resource specialists are called in to investigate many different situations. For example if wastewater discharge appears to violate health and safety standards, or proper permits aren’t in order, or where water storage practices are called in to question, these specialists are often needed. To identify the source of the problem, they use mathematical equations that predict pollution levels in water and anticipate the behavior of sewer and storm systems. They may also create visual models to represent these results. Water resource specialists also monitor water supply sources to meet conservation goals, so there will be a robust water supply in the future. A bachelor’s degree or higher in Water Resources Engineering or a related field is the typical entry requirement. A background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a plus.
What they do:
Design or implement programs and strategies related to water resource issues such as supply, quality, and regulatory compliance issues.
On the job, you would:
Perform hydrologic, hydraulic, or water quality modeling.
Analyze storm water systems to identify opportunities for water resource improvements.
Conduct, or oversee the conduct of, investigations on matters such as water storage, wastewater discharge, pollutants, permits, or other compliance and regulatory issues.
Engineering and Technology
product and service development
design
Math and Science
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
physics
Arts and Humanities
English language
Safety and Government
law and government
Basic Skills
listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
reading work related information
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Verbal
communicate by speaking
listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
notice when problems happen
Math
add, subtract, multiply, or divide
choose the right type of math to solve a problem
Visual Understanding
see hidden patterns
People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
Integrity
Analytical Thinking
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Initiative
Achievement/Effort
You might use software like this on the job:
Geographic information system
ESRI ArcGIS software
Geographic information system GIS software
Presentation software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Analytical or scientific software
Laboratory information management system LIMS
Wallingford Software InfoWater
bachelor's degree or master's degree usually needed
In the Army:
Water Treatment Specialist
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