Pump Operators
Overview
Pump operators control powerful pumps and systems that move liquids, gases, and other materials through pipelines in factories, refineries, and processing plants. You'll monitor digital gauges and computer systems to ensure proper flow rates and pressure levels, while communicating with your team via radios and digital systems to coordinate operations. The job involves hands-on maintenance of equipment, reading technical schedules, and planning the movement of products through complex pipeline networks. This role combines technical skills with teamwork and offers opportunities to work in industries like oil and gas, chemicals, water treatment, and manufacturing.
Did you know?
This role requires adherence to strict OSHA safety protocols and involves physical work in potentially hazardous industrial environments with heavy machinery.
At a Glance
Median Wage
$61,528 Avg/yr
Growth
Stable
Top Skill
Mathematics
Key Responsibilities
- Communicate with other workers, using signals, radios, or telephones, to start and stop flows of materials or substances.
- Connect hoses and pipelines to pumps and vessels prior to material transfer, using hand tools.
- Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage.
- Test materials and solutions, using testing equipment.
- Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times.
- Collect and deliver sample solutions for laboratory analysis.
- Tend auxiliary equipment such as water treatment and refrigeration units, and heat exchangers.
- Read operating schedules or instructions or receive verbal orders to determine amounts to be pumped.
- Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials.
- Add chemicals and solutions to tanks to ensure that specifications are met.
- Pump two or more materials into one tank to blend mixtures.
- Monitor gauges and flowmeters and inspect equipment to ensure that tank levels, temperatures, chemical amounts, and pressures are at specified levels, reporting abnormalities as necessary.
- Clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment.
- Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts.
Career Considerations
Safety and Physical Demands
This role requires adherence to strict OSHA safety protocols and involves physical work in potentially hazardous industrial environments with heavy machinery.
Certification and Training Requirements
Most positions require specialized certifications such as water treatment operator licenses or industrial maintenance credentials that vary by state and industry.
Job Stability and Growth
Employment prospects are generally stable due to ongoing infrastructure maintenance needs, though automation may impact some traditional pump operator roles.