Pump out a customer's tank
Feed the vacuum truck's hose into the customer's tank and draw the waste out.
Career profile
Septic Tank and Sewer Cleaner
Septic and sewer cleaners empty septic tanks, clear blocked sewer lines and find underground problems.
Expect truck-mounted pumps and pipe-cleaning tools, plus plenty of puzzles for anyone who enjoys machines and figuring out why something quit.
A day in the life
Clear a clog, find its cause
Use a water jet or powered cable, then check the withdrawn cable for roots or grease.
Scan the sewer on camera
On crews that carry a camera, feed it down the pipe and study the screen for trouble.
Share the septic inspection results
Tell the customer what the inspection found, talk through the repairs you suggest, and record the job.
Quick facts
High school + job training
United States · 2025
$49,880/year
United States · May 2025
7.8% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school + job trainingA high school diploma or equivalent is typical, followed by moderate-term training on the job.
Pay
$49,880/yearNational median pay was $23.98 an hour in May 2025.
Outlook
7.8% projected growthAbout 2,800 openings a year are projected nationally over 2025–2035.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like working with machinery and tracing the cause of a problem.
- You prefer moving around outdoors to spending the whole day at a desk.
- You can explain an unpleasant problem calmly to a customer.
Things to weigh
- Lifting equipment, working in bad weather, and handling sewage are real parts of the job. Tanks and manholes can contain dangerous atmospheres.
- Some service companies rotate on-call duty, so emergency calls can interrupt your time off.
Where AI may help
Pipe cameras bring the inside of a sewer onto a screen, helping crews inspect places they cannot see directly.
What people still lead
You still control the cleaning equipment and decide what the conditions call for.
What we can’t predict yet
How much more inspection can move to a screen—and how much physical access it will still require—remains an open question.
Pay in context
Earnings
Use the national median as a reference point when comparing actual job offers.
The national midpoint
Median pay was $49,880 a year, or $23.98 an hour, in May 2025. Half of workers earned less and half earned more.
The national spread
In May 2025, the 10th-percentile annual wage was $37,040 and the 90th-percentile wage was $73,490. These are wage percentiles, not starting and senior salaries.
Workplace makes a difference
In May 2023, annual average pay was $48,220 in remediation and other waste management services and $52,520 in local government, excluding schools and hospitals. These older averages are not individual offers.
Openings include replacements
The projected 2,800 annual openings over 2025–2035 include replacing workers who leave the occupation as well as employment growth. They are not all newly created jobs.
Getting started
Join a septic company as a helper
Paid
- What the route involves
- Assist a senior technician with pumping, digging, and tool care while learning septic systems on service calls.
- What it can lead to
- Build experience toward a technician role that handles more of the service visit.
- What to check
- Some junior roles accept beginners without a commercial driver's license (CDL), but still require an ordinary driver's license. Driving the pump truck is a separate qualification.
Enter a municipal maintenance crew
Paid
- What the route involves
- Learn routine sewer maintenance and repair tasks alongside a public works crew; some jobs also include street maintenance.
- What it can lead to
- Gain field experience for more responsible maintenance-worker positions.
- What to check
- Requirements vary. Fontana's entry classification accepts no experience but requires sufficient reading and writing skills and a California Class B driver's license with tanker endorsement within six months.
Learning at work is the usual foundation. Look for helper or trainee roles, and read the driving requirements before applying.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get dependable with the equipment
Build reliable habits for tool care, equipment checks, and recording each service visit.
Work through harder problems
Develop your septic troubleshooting skills so you can explain what is wrong and which repair you recommend.
Move toward senior technician
With experience, aim for a senior technician role handling more of the diagnosis and customer conversation while working with a helper.
Where you can work
Private septic-service company
Travel between homes and businesses in a service truck. You work on individual customers' systems and explain findings directly to the people paying for the visit.
- Field work
- Outdoors
- Vehicle
- Travel
- Physical demands
Municipal sewer crew
Maintain public sewer lines with cleaning equipment and inspection cameras. Your work fits a crew's maintenance program; some departments also share street-repair duties.
- Field work
- Outdoors
- Vehicle
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Watch a sewer-camera inspection video from a utility or equipment maker. Pause at a suspected blockage, sketch what you see, and write one question you would ask before choosing a cleaning tool. Notice whether interpreting an underground problem interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this exercise on a screen. Do not open or enter a septic tank or manhole.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 47-4071.00 — Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1.2: Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages: Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Rescue Cesspool & Drain. Careers: Technician and Junior Technician. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Fontana. Public Works Maintenance Worker I — Utilities & Streets. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Sierra Vista. Wastewater Maintenance Worker. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Creech's Plumbing. Septic Technician. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- John Kline Septic Services. Employment Opportunities. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Confined Spaces — Overview. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine. National Wages: 47-4071.00 — retrieval discrepancy, figures withheld. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates. Accessed 2026-09-29.