Will AI replace Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners?
Estimated risk score: 19 out of 100
Very low replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (0 to 38).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 22 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 47-4071.00 · Construction and Extraction
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 2 of its 22 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Prepare and keep records of actions taken, including maintenance and repair work.
- Communicate with supervisors and other workers, using equipment such as wireless phones, pagers, or radio telephones.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 19 of its 22 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or related structures such as manholes, culverts, and catch basins.
- Dig out sewer lines manually, using shovels.
- Drive trucks to transport crews, materials, and equipment.
- Inspect manholes to locate sewer line stoppages.
- Measure excavation sites, using plumbers' snakes, tapelines, or lengths of cutting heads within sewers, and mark areas for digging.
- Operate sewer cleaning equipment, including power rodders, high-velocity water jets, sewer flushers, bucket machines, wayne balls, and vac-alls.
What the job is
Clean 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.
Also called: Septic Pump Truck Driver, Septic Tank Service Technician, Sewer Cleaner, Septic Cleaner, Sewer Bricklayer, Sewer Technician, Septic Technician, Sewer Pipe Cleaner.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Construction and Extraction). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate