Raging employment question?!!!

[grumpus]

Someone answer me this question once and for all?

Who can get hired as a wastewater treatment engineer? ANYONE with ANY professional engineer's license? Just CE's with CE PE's. Chemical engineers with Chemical engineering PE's? Mechanical or environmental's?

 

[rbcoulter]

As far as I know, most states, would not require that the engineer be licensed if the engineer was directly employed by the company that owns the wastewater facility (the industrial exemption). An engineer; however, that is offering it's engineering services to the public is required to be licensed for any engineering work, including waterwater.

One may think that this doesn't make sense. Interesting that some states require the waste treatment operator to be certified, but not the engineer!

 

[dicksewerrat]

Most facilities hire CE's because they do other CE type work in and around the facility. Design the pipes, oversee construction of pipes, rehabilitation of the plant,etc. Chem P.E.s may be good but not in the construction and rehab of wastewater facilities. And since most facilities are owned by Public Agencies, they want the most bang for the buck.

 

[rbcoulter]

I agree that the Civil PE may be more suited for the typical large scale POTW, but the a waste treatment plant treating toxic or unusual waste from a chemical facility could easily be beyond the scope of the civil environmental engineer.

 

[BobPE]

If it's a public WTP then only a licensed engineer can design changes to the facility, there is not an industrial exemption in the world outside of industry, this includes sales reps and the like, and this is very important becuase of the liability of the issue!!!! Most state laws are very specific to this. I have differing feelings as to who is more qualified insofar as PE's. I would want an environmental engineer to be the project engineer and have civil engineers available to him to handle site construction issues. In todays word, wastewater treatment is very complex and typically beyond the civil's coursework (since wastewater is usually a minor concentration in their schooling) in school. The envoronmental engineer has very specific training in the field and can address all the issues that arise as a plant is being designed or modified. Environmental engineerig came to prevalance in the late 70's to deal with the complexities of wastewater treatment and as such they are usually not good at soil mechanics, surveying, roads, bridges and other things that civil's are.

That's my opinion as a PE, and we all know about opinions!!! But it is a big decision, one people and the community will have to live with for a long time.

Good luck,

BobPE

 

[saxon]

grumpus, It depends on the Nation, State, County, City, where you want to work and the requirements set-up by the various agencies involved. Here in Illinois all engineers/operators, be they POTW or Industrial Pretreatment, must receive state approved academic training, serve a period of apprenticeship, then take the State liscensing exam. There are various classes of liscense's granted by the State that reflect the type of Treatment Plant involved and type of process streams involved.

As for Engineering credentials, it 's like any State controlled engineering discipline, academic credentials/experience, passing the State P.E. exam,
and passing area of expertise exam. At which time the State will grant an Official State P.E. Liscense. Here in the Chicago area (this area has got the largest POTW and Industrial Pretreament operations on the face of the planet)all types of engineering disciplines are involved, from maintenance personnel, draftsman , designers, EIT's and P.E. In all disciplines, Mech. Civil, Elec., Chem., Arch., Comp., etc., and the various R/D centers at the U of I, Northwestern, U of C. and the likes of Argonne and Fermi Nat'l. Labs.

Check with the governmental agencies in your area, they should be able to tell you what is involved.

Goodluck!

saxon