# Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

> 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.

- **SOC code:** 47-4071.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-4071-00
- **Also known as:** Drain Cleaner, Septic Pump Truck Driver, Septic Tank Service Technician, Service Technician, Drain Technician, Public Works Technician, Septic Cleaner, Sewer Bricklayer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Communicate with supervisors and other workers, using equipment such as wireless phones, pagers, or radio telephones.
- Drive trucks to transport crews, materials, and equipment.
- Inspect manholes to locate sewer line stoppages.
- Operate sewer cleaning equipment, including power rodders, high-velocity water jets, sewer flushers, bucket machines, wayne balls, and vac-alls.
- Prepare and keep records of actions taken, including maintenance and repair work.
- Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or related structures such as manholes, culverts, and catch basins.
- Measure excavation sites, using plumbers' snakes, tapelines, or lengths of cutting heads within sewers, and mark areas for digging.
- Service, adjust, and make minor repairs to equipment, machines, and attachments.
- Clean and disinfect domestic basements and other areas flooded by sewer stoppages.
- Locate problems, using specially designed equipment, and mark where digging must occur to reach damaged tanks or pipes.
- Withdraw cables from pipes and examine them for evidence of mud, roots, grease, and other deposits indicating broken or clogged sewer lines.
- Ensure that repaired sewer line joints are tightly sealed before backfilling begins.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Pump, clean, and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or related structures such as manholes, culverts, and catch basins.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Operation and Control _(transferable_skill)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_
- Operations Monitoring _(transferable_skill)_
- Control Precision _(ability)_
- Transportation _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Flexibility of Closure _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Multilimb Coordination _(ability)_
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Depth Perception _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Equipment Maintenance _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Route mapping software
- Web browser software
- Work scheduling software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 13th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 10th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 14th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 25th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 68th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 7.6% growth (Growing fast); 2.9k annual openings; 30.4k → 32.7k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $49,140; 29,050 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-4071-00_