Resume template · Updated October 2026
Water and wastewater resume template
Short answer
Meridian suits water and wastewater resumes: skill rows above the jobs put treatment processes, SCADA and lab tests in plain view, and the colourless layout fits a utility application packet. The fictional sample is a lead operator at a Columbus-area water reclamation plant who started on a dairy plant's pretreatment system, with permit compliance, DMR data, a blower energy saving, a storm response and a Class III certificate.
Download the water and wastewater sample
Rachel is a fictional lead wastewater operator. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Meridian suits a water and wastewater resume
Meridian prints labelled skill rows before the work history, which suits a trade where processes and systems are the first screen: activated sludge, nutrient removal, UV, SCADA, lab analyses. It uses no colour, so it reproduces cleanly if a municipal hiring panel prints and copies the applications.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie prints experience before skills under a blue header, better for superintendents and managers whose plant results make the case.
What goes in each section, in Meridian's order
Meridian prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Say whether you work in drinking water, wastewater, collections, distribution or industrial pretreatment, the plant size (million gallons a day or population served), the treatment processes and your certificate grade. Utilities hire by certificate level and process, so both belong in the first two lines.
- Skills. Technical carries processes and tasks (activated sludge, nutrient removal, disinfection, solids handling, process control testing); Tools carries SCADA, the maintenance management system and lab instruments. Name the lab tests you run, such as BOD, TSS and ammonia.
- Work Experience. Compliance is the headline result: months without permit violations, reports filed on time, inspections passed. Then add process gains (energy per million gallons, chemical use, effluent quality), maintenance work and emergency response such as storms, power failures or main breaks.
- Education. A high school diploma with water or wastewater coursework is common; list a water technology certificate or associate degree if you have one, and any short courses tied to your certificate.
- Certifications. Write each operator certificate with its type (water, wastewater, distribution, collection), grade and issuing state, plus the expiry if your state renews. Meridian prints these last, so the grade also goes in the headline.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Rachel Dunbar
Lead Wastewater Operator, Class III (Ohio)
Columbus, OH | rachel.dunbar@example.com | (614) 555-0177 | linkedin.com/in/sample-rachel-dunbar
Lead operator at a 12 million gallon per day activated sludge plant with biological nutrient removal, UV disinfection and anaerobic digestion, running a day shift crew of five. Came from a dairy plant's pretreatment system, where a strict sewer use permit built careful sampling habits.
Experience
Lead Wastewater Operator, Darby Ridge Regional Sewer District, Grove City, OH (04/2021 to Present)
- Lead a five-operator day shift at a 12 MGD water reclamation plant with no NPDES permit violations in the last 30 months of reporting.
- Adjusted aeration setpoints and blower sequencing with the process engineer, cutting blower energy use by about 15% while meeting ammonia limits.
- Run and review daily process control tests (dissolved oxygen, settleability, solids) and enter results for the monthly DMR.
- Coordinated the night response to a three-inch storm that pushed flows past 30 MGD, bringing the wet weather storage basin online and avoiding a bypass.
- Train new operators on plant rounds, sampling and lockout/tagout.
Pretreatment Technician, Ridgefield Dairy Cooperative, Marysville, OH (06/2016 to 03/2021)
- Operated the equalization and dissolved air flotation system treating dairy wastewater before discharge to the city sewer.
- Collected compliance samples and kept the sampling log used for the city's sewer use permit reports.
- Brought pH excursions close to zero by moving caustic feed to automatic control.
Education
AAS, Environmental Technology (Water and Wastewater), Olentangy Valley Community College (05/2016)
Certifications
- Wastewater Treatment Operator, Class III, Ohio EPA (2022)
- Wastewater Treatment Operator, Class II, Ohio EPA (2019)
Skills
Activated sludge and nutrient removal, UV disinfection, Anaerobic digestion, Process control testing, Compliance sampling, Wet weather operations, Wonderware SCADA, Hach lab instruments, Cityworks, Excel, Shift leadership, Training new operators, Clear shift handovers
How to make the sample yours
Show you know the permit
Wastewater plants report monitoring results on Discharge Monitoring Reports under their NPDES permit conditions (40 CFR 122.41), and most monitoring records must be kept for at least three years. Say whether you sampled, ran the tests, entered the DMR data or reviewed it.
Drinking water operators: name the issuing state
The Safe Drinking Water Act had EPA issue operator certification guidelines and withholds part of a state's drinking water revolving fund money if the state does not run a programme that meets them (42 U.S.C. 300g-8). Grades and renewals are set state by state, so list the state behind each certificate and any reciprocity you hold.
Industrial to municipal, or the reverse
Pretreatment systems at food, brewing and chemical plants run on the same biology and chemistry. Translate your sewer use permit or discharge limits into municipal terms, as the sample does.
Add emergency and after-hours work
On-call rotations, storm events, power failures and spills show judgement under pressure. Give one example with what you did and what the plant avoided.
Signal the next grade
If you are close to a higher certificate, write "Class IV exam scheduled 2027" or similar. It shows a plan and tells a utility you will soon be able to cover a senior shift.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- wastewater treatment
- water treatment
- activated sludge
- NPDES permit compliance
- discharge monitoring reports
- SCADA
- process control
- laboratory testing
- BOD and TSS
- nutrient removal
- disinfection
- biosolids
- preventive maintenance
- operator certification
- wet weather operations
Mistakes to avoid
- "Licensed operator" with no type, grade or state.
- Leaving out lab work when the plant expects operators to run process control tests.
- Permit compliance claimed for a whole utility when you ran one plant or one shift.
- Equipment brands listed without the process they serve.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I start a career in water or wastewater with no experience?
Many utilities hire operators in training. Show mechanical, lab, science or plant experience, a clean driving record if the job needs one and any water technology course, then sit the entry-level certificate exam as soon as your state allows.
Should I list both water and wastewater certificates?
Yes, each with its own grade. Dual certification widens the jobs you qualify for, especially at small utilities where one crew runs both plants.
How do I show compliance without sharing internal data?
Keep to summary statements: months without violations, reports on time, inspections passed. Leave out internal incident details and anything your utility treats as confidential.
Can I move from operations into a lab or engineering role?
Yes. Operators who run process control tests and work with engineers on optimisation have a head start. Stress data, testing and projects, and add any chemistry or engineering coursework.
Is shift and on-call work worth mentioning?
Yes. Plants run around the clock, so showing you have covered nights, weekends and emergency call-outs answers a practical question before the interview.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Meridian PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School: 40 CFR 122.41 Conditions applicable to all permits (monitoring results reported on a Discharge Monitoring Report (electronically since December 21, 2016); monitoring records kept at least 3 years; permittee must properly operate and maintain treatment facilities)
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School: 42 U.S. Code 300g-8 Operator certification (EPA issues guidelines with minimum standards for certifying and recertifying operators of community and nontransient noncommunity water systems; 20 percent of a state's revolving fund allotment withheld unless it runs a program meeting them)
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