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Water Pollution Control Inspector

Environmental Compliance Inspectors
Description
Inspect wastewater, stormwater, and industrial discharge sources to prevent water pollution, enforce Clean Water Act and related state and local regulations, and protect public health and aquatic resources.
  • • Participate in developing spill prevention, SSO reduction, and illicit discharge elimination programs, and recommend corrective actions.
  • • Maintain and calibrate sampling, monitoring, and safety equipment, and keep vehicles and work sites in good order.
  • • Conduct studies on wastewater and stormwater management issues to assess problem magnitude, tracing methods, treatment alternatives, and costs.
  • • Respond to public and customer inquiries about sewer service charges, surcharges, and capacity fees, or refer them to supervisors.
  • • Prepare data to calculate sewer service charges, industrial surcharges, and capacity fees.
  • • Determine the nature of water quality violations, issue notices of violation, and participate in enforcement hearings as needed.
  • • Examine NPDES, pretreatment, and stormwater permits, applications, and records to verify compliance.
  • • Prepare, organize, and maintain inspection, sampling, and enforcement records.
  • • Interview operators, industrial users, and complainants to document suspected violations and obtain evidence.
  • • Prepare written, oral, tabular, and graphic reports, including chain-of-custody and enforcement documentation.
  • • Monitor corrective actions and review self-monitoring, DMRs, and compliance reports after violations are found.
  • • Investigate complaints about illegal discharges, illicit connections, SSOs, construction runoff, or illegal dumping.
  • • Inspect wastewater treatment plants, pretreatment systems, pump stations, collection systems, and stormwater BMPs for regulatory conformance.
  • • Inform facility representatives and the public of water pollution control requirements and inspection findings, and explain corrective measures.
  • • Determine sampling locations and methods, and collect surface water, stormwater, groundwater, or wastewater samples using proper containers and preservation.
  • • Verify that hazardous chemicals and wastes are handled, stored, and disposed of to prevent discharges to waters or sewers.
  • • Research and stay current on Clean Water Act, NPDES, pretreatment, MS4, and related state and local regulations.
  • • Prioritize sites and complaint reports for investigation, and coordinate compliance and enforcement with other agencies.
  • • Observe and record field conditions, including flow rates and water quality parameters such as pH, DO, turbidity, and chlorine residual.
  • • Follow and enforce safety procedures, including confined space entry, traffic control, and PPE requirements.
  • • Review and evaluate industrial user permits, slug control plans, and stormwater pollution prevention plans.
  • • Inform health professionals, property owners, and the public about risks from contaminated water, sewage, and runoff.
  • • Analyze and implement requirements to maintain approved pretreatment, pollution prevention, IDDE, and stormwater programs.
  • • Perform field and laboratory tests on collected samples, such as pH, TSS, BOD/COD, nutrients, and metals.
  • • Review and evaluate applications for wastewater discharge, pretreatment, and stormwater permits.
  • • Perform calculations for flow, loadings, alternative limits, and wastewater strength classifications, and prepare recommendations and documentation.
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Management & Entrepreneurship View
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Source
Tasks & skills: O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge). Learn more
Sources & Standards: This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
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