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By Michelle Crean

Kerry’s water services remain flowing with Kerry County Council’s County Supervisor of Water Services, Freddie Bartlett, at the helm during the health crisis.

The Barraduff man joined Kerry County Council 46 years ago and has been County Supervisor for many years. Working in partnership with Irish Water, Freddie and his crews in KCC work to maintain water services 24-7, 365 days a year.
In these unprecedented times, Freddie and his team continue to maintain water services across the county, ensuring that water and wastewater are treated to the highest standards to protect public health and the environment. They also make sure that any unplanned pipe bursts are repaired as quickly as possible, so that water supply is returned and the impact on customers is kept to a minimum.
Freddie’s role is always busy: scheduling work and monitoring the countywide SCADA (network/plant information) systems.
“I can honestly say that I like my job; it is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job,” Freddie said.
“You always have to be available at the other end of the phone. I work with great crews and conscientious caretakers and know that I can depend on them. We all take great pride in what we do.”

There are additional challenges during the current health crisis, he added.
Crews have to continue to work together to maintain essential services, but also adhere to social distancing guidelines. There has been a big change to work practices, but it is all going very well so far.”

Freddie says that both plant and network caretakers deserve huge credit for adapting to new ways of working during the current health crisis.

“Caretakers would normally call to customers’ properties to investigate issues such as water quality. To adapt to the COVID-19 restrictions, they are now engaging more with customers over the phone and taking samples from nearby publicly accessible areas, such as fire hydrants so that they can continue to provide an essential service without having to go into peoples’ homes.”
As there has been very little rain in recent weeks, water levels in rivers and lakes are equivalent to levels typically encountered in June. Irish Water and Kerry County Council are monitoring the situation closely at this time.
Freddie’s team has noticed an increase in sewer blockages, in particular at pumping stations on the wastewater network.

“We would appeal to the public not to flush unsuitable items, in particular wipes down the toilet, as they cause a lot of damage to the wastewater networks across the county. We are noticing an increase in call outs to unblock drains, particularly in towns and housing estates.”