Desalination technician

Desalination technician article illustration

Description

Desalination technicians operate, monitor and maintain desalination plant equipment. They ensure compliance with legal regulations and safety and health requirements.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to desalination technician:

operator of desalination plant
desalination plant technician
desalination technicians
water treatment plant technician
desalination equipment operator
water treatment plants technician

Minimum qualifications

An associate’s degree in chemical, mechanical, or electrical engineering, or a related field, is generally the minimum required to work as a desalination technician.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Desalination technician is a Skill level 3 occupation.

Desalination technician career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to desalination technician.

air pollution analyst
mine safety officer
gas processing plant control room operator
oil refinery control room operator
mine surveying technician

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of desalination technician. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of desalination technician with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

geochemist
mine health and safety engineer
explosives engineer
mine mechanical engineer
quarry engineer

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of desalination technician.

  • Work ergonomically: Apply ergonomy principles in the organisation of the workplace while manually handling equipment and materials.
  • Collect samples: Set up and operate equipment to collect water, gas or soil samples for testing.
  • Troubleshoot: Identify operating problems, decide what to do about it and report accordingly.
  • Maintain records of mining operations: Maintain records of mine production and development performance, including performance of machinery.
  • Write work-related reports: Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high standard of documentation and record keeping. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.
  • Present reports: Display results, statistics and conclusions to an audience in a transparent and straightforward way.
  • Maintain desalination control system: Maintain a system to obtain potable water from saline water.
  • Perform water testing procedures: Conduct testing procedures on water quality, such as pH tests and dissolved solids. Understand instrumentation drawings.
  • Manage desalination control system: Manage a system for the removal of salt in order to obtain potable water.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of desalination technician. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Electricity: Understand the principles of electricity and electrical power circuits, as well as the associated risks.
  • Chemistry: The composition, structure, and properties of substances and the processes and transformations that they undergo; the uses of different chemicals and their interactions, production techniques, risk factors, and disposal methods.
  • Mechanics: Theoretical and practical applications of the science studying the action of displacements and forces on physical bodies to the development of machinery and mechanical devices.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of desalination technician. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Perform minor repairs to equipment: Conduct routine maintenance on equipment. Recognise and identify minor defects in equipment and make repairs if appropriate.
  • Train employees: Lead and guide employees through a process in which they are taught the necessary skills for the perspective job. Organise activities aimed at introducing the work and systems or improving the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings.
  • Conduct inter-shift communication: Communicate relevant information about the conditions in the workplace, progress, events, and potential problems to the workers in the next shift.

ISCO group and title

3117 – Mining and metallurgical technicians


References
  1. Desalination technician – ESCO
  2. Featured image: By Calistemon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated on January 24, 2023