Water industry asset maintenance technician

Apprenticeship summary

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in the water industry. Water industry asset maintenance technicians typically work for water companies regulated by the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat). They may also work for companies that subcontract to regulated water companies. These organisations range in size from small to large. They provide a supply of clean, fresh drinking water to houses and businesses in their area 365 days a year. Also, they take wastewater from their customers, clean it to the required standard and return it to the natural environment. This is a highly regulated industry as the failure of either of these processes could result in health and environmental concerns. Technicians normally work on equipment and plant used for either water treatment or wastewater recycling as this helps maintain health and hygiene. They work in a range of facilities such as pumping stations, water treatment plants and sewage treatment works. They may also work on assets located within the raw water or sewage network. This is a core and options apprenticeship proposal. An apprentice must be trained in the core and one option. The options are: Option 1. water industry maintenance technician - mechanical Option 2. water industry maintenance technician - electrical Option 3. water industry maintenance technician – instrumentation, control and automation

The broad purpose of the occupation is to keep the range of equipment used for water treatment or wastewater recycling operating safely and efficiently. Making sure houses and businesses benefit from a safe, continuous supply of clean water and wastewater quality is maintained. Water industry asset maintenance technicians travel between sites to carry out planned maintenance work. They work safely, considering process implications when isolating equipment to be worked on. They then carry out installations, modifications, repairs and servicing. Once complete, they test the equipment to make sure it is working properly before being brought into service. They carry out breakdown maintenance on large industrial equipment, investigating equipment failures and diagnosing complex faults. They plan and carry out repairs as quickly and efficiently as possible. Breakdowns can happen at any time and can affect water supply and wastewater recycling processes. Because of this, water industry asset maintenance technicians normally work shifts and undertake standby duties outside of regular working hours. Mechanical technicians work on items of electromechanical plant such as pumps, valves, gas dosing equipment, pipework, and a range of chemical dosing pumps. Electrical technicians work on industrial electrical equipment such as electrical motors, variable speed drives (VSDs), electrical panels, motor control centres and instrumentation such as Programmable Logic Control (PLC). Instrumentation, Control and Automation (ICA) technicians maintain, install, calibrate and test equipment used for monitoring water processes. They write and modify control software for the maintenance of ICA systems such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), PLCs, Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) and intelligent networking systems. All technicians make sure that data quality is maintained, design and installations are to the latest standards and provide technical support for system users.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with technicians from other disciplines such as systems, mechanical and electrical technicians to solve non-routine problems as part of a multi-disciplinary team. They may also work with subcontractors. They could also communicate with members of the general public and business owners when working on assets located in or near public places.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for making sure plant and equipment for water recycling or water treatment operates safely and efficiently. Technicians must consider behavioural safety. This means they must follow safe systems of work. They must proactively monitor their work environment to manage the risks that their work can pose to themselves, their colleagues and members of the public. Including the risk of pollution incidents and damage to the environment. They support their employers to meet sustainability commitments. Working to optimise processes, assets and systems to reduce the impact the industry has on the environment. Well maintained equipment saves energy. It means fewer leaks and makes sure drinking water and waste water meet the required standard. Technicians may also manage a budget, making sure spare parts are available where and when they are needed.

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