Water agencies use heavy equipment for many day-to-day operations. This equipment includes forklifts, back hoes, cranes, drills, shovels, augurs (for drilling), lifts, pumps, and more. Every piece of equipment needs a specially trained operator. Heavy equipment operators use this machinery to:

• dig holes for pipes and water mains;
• drill wells to test underground water or to pump it out;
• remove huge amounts of dirt when building a reservoir;
• dig up tree roots and boulders when laying a pipeline;
• carry huge sections of water mains, motors, propellers.