Water testing is incredibly boring, but also an extremely important job. Quality of water available affects everything in society, from top to bottom. But, I get that it is totally monotonous.
this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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That sounds like the kind of thing that could easily, and perhaps should, be automated.
In which case, the job becomes transferring the bottled samples into sample tubes in trays so that the machine can process them, and usually adding a barcode to each sample tube. The sample tubes need to be kept immaculate as well - some of the things that we test water for, like pesticides, are only present in miniscule concentrations. Might not actually save a great deal of time, and you need to buy and maintain a very expensive automated sampler.
When I used to work in the water industry, we were usually able to get PhD-qualified research chemists to do all this mind-numbing laboratory work. There's a bit of a surplus of qualified chemists compared to the number of chemist jobs available, so you got absurdly over-qualified people applying for these roles.
I specifically did not specialize in analytical chemistry because of this. It's relatively easy to get a job, but it's mind numbingly boring to do the same tests over and over and over.
I did physical chemistry. No jobs but at least no one knows what the fuck you can do.
(Incidentally I managed to get a job with energetic materials where my education is occasionally relevant)
I did automation work for a sewage treatment center that did regular water testing as part of treatment. Most of these kinds of jobs are automated for the most part. There's always a human operator present to supervise and to do some small function that is still cheaper to have done manually instead of by machine.
I am definitely in favor of human supervision of many automated tasks.
Thing is most of water testing can be automated. There are electronic meters that can measure most important water properties like pH, electrical resistivity, total dissolved solids, turbidity, etc, which only require calibration from time to time. I am not sure why OOP was hired for manually testing water.
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Most of these “tester” positions are boring to the point of testing your sanity. Monotony is the state of doing little outside of a simple, repetitive routine and it offers a unique hell to each of its occupants. When one is consumed by tedium, they are compelled to consume it in turn, reshaping themselves to fill their fresh wounds like a reluctant ouroboros. You dip, you walk, you place, you return, you dip, you walk, you place, you return. The shining isn’t far off.
~former apple sauce sampler
Honestly, if it paid well enough and I were to lose my current job, I’d live to be in this sort of job. Life’s too short to be stressed about work. Just go, do job, get paid, and live my life.
Everyone believes they’re unaffected by indefinite boredom until the wallpaper starts dancing.
Couldn’t you at least get some audiobooks or youtube or something to help pass the time?
I operated around machinery so my hearing couldn’t be obstructed. If that weren’t an issue, music would have been welcome.
It sounds like you've left the field, but I'll never miss a chance to proselytize bone conduction headphones. Mediocre sound quality, but they leave your ears completely open and can work through ear protection.
one must imagine the apple sauce sampler to be happy
I want those hotel bed tester job.
Turns out the job is dipping paper strips in bodily fluids found on hotel beds.
Ah, you mean bedbug bite cure tester
That's the job I want.
Sounds like that one level of the stoner working in the fish factory in What Remains of Edith Finch.
The kicker is Anon may have gotten the job because they put so much effort into it even if it was the wrong direction of effort.
Nobody's stopping you from sampling the goods, bud. Take a sip. Preferably after the test results come back clean, but hey you do you.
Preferably after the test results come back clean
That's no fun. That is like figuring out what the evidence room floor pills are first, rather than guessing after.
This is the kind of job I need. Boring and repetitive. Show up, do the work, get paid. No additional demands or expectations.
Back in the beginnings of my career, I’ve had a job or two like that and it drove me bananas. I couldn’t stand the tedium, so I left to find “greener pastures”. It took me several years, and burning out twice (twice) before I landed on my boring and mundane job that I have now. It’s not even the job itself; it’s the company and their chill attitude. I’m not going anywhere else if I can help it.
Honest work, but it's slow and repetitive work, definitely something where you should consider having a book handy for when you're waiting for the strips to be ready to record
Audiobooks for the win
Part of my last job actually was taste testing water. A very small part lol takes about 20 seconds all told from grabbing the cup to filling it and then tasting it a few times to make sure it's good and then recycling the cup.
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