Construction and Extraction
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.
Also called: Drain Cleaner, Drain Technician, Public Works Technician, Septic Cleaner, Septic Pump Truck Driver, Septic Tank Service Technician
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $59,100
- $28.42/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 380
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- +9.2%
- 40 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- High school diploma or equivalent
- plus Moderate-term on-the-job training
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $46,400 | $50,580 | $59,100 | $72,780 | $78,460 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- 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.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Lower exposure13 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 9
- Language-model AIOE 9
- GPTs-are-GPTs 22
Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)
AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. The core work is hands-on: driving trucks, checking manholes, and running sewer cleaning equipment. AI tools may help a little with record-keeping and crew communication, but they do not do the physical work of clearing and repairing lines.
Likely to change
- Writing up maintenance and repair records
- Crew communication and job logging
Still relies on people
- Running power rodders and water jets
- Inspecting manholes to find stoppages
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
Next steps from here
Related jobs that build on what you already do.
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
Your experience keeping trucks and heavy equipment running carries over to repairing buses and trucks, with long-term training and steady pay.
- Pay difference
- +$16,670 median
- AI exposure
- Lower
- MA growth
- +5.1%
- To get started
- High school diploma or equivalent
Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Pipelayers
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
- Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
- Construction Laborers
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
Talk to a career coach
A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.
Talk to a career coach