Wells 1

Tyler Wells

Ms. Amanda Tibbits

Language Arts 12

8 March 2019

Plumbing and Sewer/Drain cleaning

Coming out of high school, many of us are struggling or struggled to find a career of our

interest that’ll allow for us to be successful and love. Growing up around the construction type

work-life, it brought into perspective the possibilities for my future job field. Growth in the

surrounding areas and the need for work in the dirty jobs sparked me to look more into the

Plumbing and Sewer/Drain cleaning as an option for my future in a career. Plumbing is

something everyone uses on a daily basis. From every utility in your bathroom, to your sprinkler

system, it all revolves around the plumbing field. This paper will discuss the ability to be paid

while going to school, what the work will consist of, and the pros to this field.

Building a personal relationship for future jobs is an important part of expanding/growing

your business in the field surrounding plumbing. If you’re able to do this, people talk and word is

spread that you do a good job bringing more jobs which means more money. In the text ​Plumber

West Jordan Expands with Drain Cleaning Service​, “In an effort to truly cater to the people of

Utah and be their go-to plumber, PWJ offer free cost estimates for all jobs. This allows potential

customers to weigh their options before signing any contract.” In order to build relationships and

connections, you have to being willing to work with them with balance and not overwhelming

side-effects, that is why I feel like this statement is a strong way to go with the plumbing side of
 Wells 2

things. Compared to doing the opposite and losing that customer for the future along with the

possibility of the client recommending your work to others. Along with this, having a goal to

your job to the fullest is an important characteristic to have in order to get full satisfaction with

your work which sometimes means going the extra mile to make sure everything is 100% how it

should be and how you want it.​Action Plumbing Provides Drain Cleaning and Plumbing Repairs

to Salt Lake City​ states it best in an example from their work by saying, “‘I was called in to

remove a minor clog. The minor clog was removed, but I asked if the debris that I removed was

placed in the sink often. The homeowner said yes, so I decided to take a closer look. I sent a tiny

camera down the pipe. I found a large clog in the pipe that was going to cause a break or larger

clog. I let the homeowner know about the debris and we quickly repaired their plumbing and

cleaned the drain.’”Without having the willingness to make sure everything is repaired, makes it

very difficult to bring back business because of the lack of effort given. This makes your effort

even more important, no matter the task.

In order to have success and keep your business alive, your amount of income plays a

major role in making or breaking the future in that career. The average pay for a plumber in Salt

Lake is $26.29 ranging from as low as $20.13 all the way up to $39.73 an hour (payscale.com).

This is a pretty significant amount to be making right away compared to other jobs many have

while attending college or other life tasks. Along with apprenticeship, this makes for a pretty

good advantage right from the beginning. ​Plumbers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters ​also mentions

that the annual median is $53,030 for a year (jobs.utah.gov). With that in mind, it’s a reasonable
 Wells 3

amount to be making on a yearly basis in order to survive along with continual growth in a

business.

Your day typically can and will be relatively busy with lots of jobs and running around

throughout the cities. You can expect to “Install and maintain water systems, troubleshoot and

diagnose problems, including interactions between waste, gas, and water systems, and Assemble,

weld, bend, thread, and adjust pipes, tubes, valves, and fittings” (payscale.com). There is a lot

more to the job than this, but it’s a pretty good overview on a few things you can expect to see on

a weekly basis. I’ve learned from experiences I’ve seen is, the need to be handy in all the types

of work needed because many times you will need it all, not just good at one. The article ​A day

in the life of a plumbing apprentice ​expands on this by saying “A plumbing apprentice is split

between on-the-job training and classroom work...school two evenings a week from September

to May, and on the job for 40 to 55 hours a week”. Even though some learning/school is

required, you’re getting paid to do so along with getting hands on experience. I see this as

something to take advantage of its a considering field due to being required to have a plumbing

contractor’s license in order to go into the field.

Plumbing trade has different options within the field that you’re able to go into. For

instants, the passage ​What Are Some Different Jobs Within the Plumbing Trade?​ Mentions a few

options within which states, “five different specialties, including pipelayers, plumbers,

pipefitters, steamfitters and sprinklerfitters”(​U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).​ Each requires

 Wells 4

there own type of education but all have their own ways of connecting each other to the majority

field of plumbing.

With Growth in the community, the need for plumbing has and will continue to grow as

well. A previous article mentions that, “This occupation is expected To experience faster than

average employment growth with a high volume of annual job openings. Business expansion, as

opposed to the need for replacements, will provide the majority of job openings in the coming

decade”(jobs.utah.gov). Lots of people moving into one area means an even bigger chance for

lots of work. To me, this is a strong reasoning to especially in the next 3-5 years to take it as an

opportunity for a good long lasting and needed job. Considering the opposite affect however, say

the plumbing economy starts to slow, moving to a new developing area where the work could be

booming and successful is always an option that can be considered in order for the business to

get the full amount of work it needs.

Furthermore, A growing company is a successful company. With the start of a business

or a job, it may seem that you’ll be good doing the same thing for the next 30-40 years of your

career. Problem is, you can’t plateau in the work field or you’ll be surpassed quickly by a

younger, harder working individual. The article ​Expanding your Drain Cleaning Biz​ states that

even though profit will come quickly with minor repairs, eventually that won’t be enough and

you’ll have to take that next step in your capabilities in order to continue with success (Hilton).

You have to bring something to the table that makes you stand out from the rest. Make it difficult

to find the same thing somewhere else for the same value.
 Wells 5

A concern for me with this job is the ability to merge specialties into one company. As

I’ve seen from research on companies around the valley, not very many combine Plumbing and

Sewer/drain cleaning into their routine. An issue can arise where “plumbing services are

sometimes difficult to blend with sewer and Drain Cleaning services, unless you've planned

ahead for the pitfalls”(Hilton). You have to be willing to work through possible prolonged issues

with the combination in order to have the possibility of the long term success. With this however,

the option of combining is possible by “Drain techs… They may not know exactly how to

perform a repair but they have the tools to locate it so that our plumbing staff can take care of the

problem”(Hilton). So, They might not be always doing the same work, but working together can

make that merge just a bit easier for the business.

In conclusion, one of the most important things I learned from digging more into the

research on Plumbing and Sewer/Drain cleaning, Is that through this career, you’re continually

having to grow and adapt as an individual along with a business in order to be successful and

stay in the game. From all of this, I’ve noticed that parts of this field might not fit my interests

the best or as much as I would like, but I still believe it’s a possibility and could be well worth

my time. I believe that there is more to dig into with the other specialties within the field and

what it takes to do those.

 Wells 6

Work Cited
Hilton, Randy. “Expanding Your Drain Cleaning Biz.” ​Reeves Journal: Plumbing,

Heating, Cooling​, vol. 78, no. 8, Aug. 1998, p. 26. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=1361204&site=ehost-live.

PR Newswire. “Action Plumbing Provides Drain Cleaning and Plumbing Repairs to Salt

Lake City.” ​PR Newswire US,​ 17 July 2014. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=201407171046PR.NEWS.USPR.L

A71340&site=ehost-live.

“Plumber West Jordan Expands with Drain Cleaning Service.” ​M2PressWIRE​, Sept.

2018. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=16PU2943065982&site=ehost-live​.