Water and Wastewater Engineer
🚰Designs and runs water mains, sewers and treatment plants so that tap water is clean and wastewater does not end up in rivers.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $112.2k a year on average · +6.3% jobs by 2035 · 2,300 openings a year
Environmental engineers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £51.7k median a year · 60,000 jobs
Civil engineers — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Digital twins and AI detect leaks and failures, but design, surveying worn pipes and commissioning treatment plants stay with the engineer.
Who it suits
Interests: 🏗️ Building and spaces, 🌋 Planet: ocean, climate, geology, ⚛️ Physics and chemistry, ⚙️ Tech and engineering.
Key strengths: maths, science, logic.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BEng Civil / Environmental Engineering
- Master's MSc Water / Environmental Engineering (e.g. TU Delft, IHE Delft)
- Apprenticeship Water industry degree apprenticeship (UK)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Physics, Chemistry.
🧗 A civil or environmental engineering degree, often an MSc in water engineering (TU Delft, IHE Delft), then Chartered Engineer (UK) or PE (US). Jobs at water utilities and consultancies.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Imperial College London London · €49.1k–52.3k/yr
A-levels/IB or a recognised foundation; IELTS 6.5–7.0; ESAT/TMUA tests; medicine: UCAT + interview, £58.6k/yr - University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - University of Bath Bath
Attestat + foundation or A-levels/IB; IELTS usually 6.5–7.0 *
🇺🇸 United States
- University of California, Berkeley Berkeley · €47.7k–49.9k/yr
UC Application; TOEFL 80 (new scale 4.5) / IELTS 6.5 / DET 115; SAT/ACT not considered; almost no aid for internationals - Stanford University Stanford, CA · €58.9k–61.2k/yr
SAT/ACT required; no English test required; need-aware for internationals (aid request affects admission), full need met - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Urbana-Champaign · €36.8k–46.2k/yr
international rate $42–53k by major; TOEFL/IELTS/DET needed if no SAT/ACT submitted
🇩🇪 Germany
- Technical University of Munich Munich · €4k–6k/yr
Non-EU: €2,000-3,000/semester (€2,300-3,400 from 2027/28); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); aptitude assessment (EfV): grades, test, interview - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester; apply with B1, DSH-2/telc C1 Hochschule by start; only Mechanical Engineering International is in English - Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Weimar · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); architecture and design: aptitude test/portfolio *
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology Delft · €19.9k/yr
VWO level: Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS 6.5 (Dutch-taught 5.5); NF: Architecture, Clinical Technology - University of Twente Enschede · €12.3k–16.4k/yr
VWO level by file review (usually + 1 university year); IELTS 6.0 (sections ≥ 5.5); Twente Pathway College foundation — last intake Sept 2026 - Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven · €18.6k/yr
VWO level with maths and physics; Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS ≈ 6.5; all bachelors in English
🇫🇷 France
- École des Ponts ParisTech Champs-sur-Marne
No direct entry from school: concours after 2 years of CPGE (MP/PC/PSI, Mines-Ponts concours); taught in French * - INSA Lyon Villeurbanne
Post-bac entry to the 5-year cycle (international sections exist); file, French B2 * - ESTP Cachan · €8k–10k/yr
Bachelor (Troyes, 3 yrs) €8,000: file, science diploma, French A2+; engineering cycle €9,950 after prépa/L3
🇮🇹 Italy
- Politecnico di Milano Milan · €160–3.9k/yr
TOL (≥30/100) or SAT ≥620 per section; English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else a university year or foundation - Politecnico di Torino Turin
TIL test or SAT (not for architecture); English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else first university year or foundation - University of Padua Padua · €2.8k–3k/yr
12 school years or Foundation Year; B2 in the language of study; non-EU with family abroad pay a fixed €2,790–2,990
🇪🇸 Spain
- Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 (ACLES/DELE certificate, checked by UNEDasiss); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU €30/ECTS; some classes in Catalan - Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) Valencia · €1.5k–2.2k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU pay double credit price; classes in Spanish/Valencian *
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Czech Technical University in Prague Prague · €0–5.1k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech B2, maths); English-taught CZK 55,000–64,000 per semester - Brno University of Technology Brno · free
Free in Czech: Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams, certificate nostrification * - VSB – Technical University of Ostrava Ostrava · €0–4k/yr
Free in Czech; English bachelor's CZK 50,000 per semester (≈€4,000/yr)
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells
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