Meet our Industry Person of the Week, Rory Byrne, a pump mechanic.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Rory: Before working at Mount Pleasant Waterworks (MPW) I was an automotive mechanic. I saw a job posting at MPW for a pump mechanic and thought it would be a good fit, the mechanical aspects between the two went hand and hand. Over time my position evolved to incorporate both fleet maintenance and pump repairs.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Rory: What I love the most about my job is every day is a different challenge. For example, diagnosing a wiring issue with a vac truck on a Monday and repairing a wastewater pump with a seal failure on Tuesday. I am most proud of working in the town where I grew up. By keeping the fleet rolling, and the pumps pumping, I know I’m helping to keep water flowing to our customers day in and day out.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Rory: Make the jump, it can be a dirty and hard job, but it is very rewarding. Push forward and soak up everything you can.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Rory: Recently two effluent pumps from our largest WRRF needed to be rebuilt. These are our largest submersible pumps and we had never done repairs ourselves before. We decided to take on the job in house, and finishing that job was really rewarding. It felt good to know I can now truly fix any pump we have in the system.
Connect with Rory on Instagram.
THANK YOU, RORY! WE LOOK FORWARD TO KEEPING UP WITH YOU THROUGH THE #PUMPTALK COMMUNITY!
