Tend, control, or operate power-driven, stationary, or portable pumps and manifold systems to transfer gases, oil, other liquids, slurries, or powdered materials to and from various vessels and processes.
U.S. Workers
12,600
Median Salary
$60,020
10-Year Growth
+2.6%
Annual Openings
1,500
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
14 of 14 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Monitor gauges and flowmeters and inspect equipment to ensure that tank levels, temperatures, chemical amounts, and pressures are at specified levels, reporting abnormalities as necessary.
AI: Fully automatable - Sensor networks, SCADA systems, computer vision, and anomaly-detection AI can continuously monitor gauges/flowmeters and flag or report abnormalities without human intervention in most facilities.
Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times.
AI: Fully automatable - Automatic metering, telemetry, and logging software readily record products, quantities, gauging results, and operating times, allowing full automation of this task.
Communicate with other workers, using signals, radios, or telephones, to start and stop flows of materials or substances.
AI: Fully automatable - AI-integrated control systems and communications stacks can send signals, radio/phone messages, and issue start/stop commands for routine coordination and operations.
Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Motorized valves and remotely controlled pumps are widely used and can be started or regulated by AI/control systems for most operational scenarios.
Read operating schedules or instructions or receive verbal orders to determine amounts to be pumped.
AI: Fully automatable - Parsing operating schedules and converting instructions or voice commands into setpoints is well within current AI and automation capabilities and can be fully automated for routine directives.
Add chemicals and solutions to tanks to ensure that specifications are met.
AI: Fully automatable - Adding chemicals to tanks is widely handled by automated dosing systems and controllers, which AI can fully manage in typical industrial settings.
Pump two or more materials into one tank to blend mixtures.
AI: Fully automatable - Blending (pumping multiple materials into one tank) is a common PLC/SCADA-controlled process and can be fully automated and supervised by AI.
Test materials and solutions, using testing equipment.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated analyzers, autosamplers, and lab robotics coupled with AI interpretation already enable end-to-end testing of many materials and solutions.
Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts.
AI: Partial - Fixed level sensors and computer-vision reading of gauges can automate many level checks, but physically using calibrated rods or handling legacy gauges in variable conditions still requires human action.
Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage.
AI: Partial - Optimization algorithms and digital twins can plan product movements and manage routine routing, but complex exceptions, safety tradeoffs, and ad hoc coordination typically still need human oversight.
Clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment.
AI: Partial - Predictive maintenance and some robotic cleaning/lubrication exist, but the nuanced manual inspection and repair tasks requiring dexterity and judgment remain largely human-performed.
Collect and deliver sample solutions for laboratory analysis.
AI: Partial - Automated samplers and intra-facility transport robots can collect and deliver many lab samples, but diverse field sampling and last-mile handling still often require humans.
Connect hoses and pipelines to pumps and vessels prior to material transfer, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Connecting hoses and pipelines with hand tools requires manual dexterity and adaptation to variable field conditions, so robotics/AI can assist but not fully replace humans by 2025.
Tend auxiliary equipment such as water treatment and refrigeration units, and heat exchangers.
AI: Partial - Monitoring and control of auxiliary equipment can be automated, but the physical servicing and unpredictable on-site interventions still require human work, so only partial automation is realistic.