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Try It by Career Calling

Drainage, Sewerage and Stormwater Labourer

LabourersUsually school education or a short period of on-the-job training

What the work is

Performs routine tasks in maintaining drainage, sewerage and stormwater systems.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Cleans and performs minor repairs to stormwater drains and canals
  • Checks for cracks and leaks in sewerage systems
  • Assists with the installation of on-site domestic wastewater treatment plants, disposal systems, stormwater systems, and below ground sanitary drainage systems
  • Installs prefabricated inspection openings and inspection chambers

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a plumbing and drainage contractor laying pipe and servicing drains on a new housing estate. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • Water runs through a new line for the first time and there are no leaks
  • Learning a little more each day from a plumber who explains the why
  • Leaving a street tidy, with the trench filled and nothing left to show

Hard days

  • Digging in wet clay while it is raining and the trench keeps filling
  • Cleaning a blocked drain on a hot afternoon, with the smell to match
  • Being asked to do something that is the plumber's job, not yours

Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.

Work a mission

Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.

Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 821631, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.