Water Service

Our water is drawn from the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers.

Fairfax County Water Authority which operates the system, is appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Meetings, held twice a month at the Authority's offices at 8560 Arlington Boulevard just outside the Beltway, are open to the public.

Safety. Suspected contamination of the water lines should be reported immediately to the Authority at 698-5600. The most widespread safety hazard, potentially occuring in every home, is backflow when a drop in water pressure causes contaminated water to be drawn backward into the home drinking water. The problem and solutions are outlined below. Questions may be referred to any licensed plumber, or to the Water Authority engineers at 324-1910.

Backflow danger points are anywhere that hoses, tanks or pools of water are connected to the fresh water supply lines in your home. If the water pressure drops even momentarily, backflow can occur unless the connections are fitted with backflow preventers. Water Authority engineers urge you to check two danger points in particular-flush toilets and outdoor hoses.

Outdoor hoses and sprinkler systems left attached to the water lines can bring bacteria, herbicides or pesticides into your water supply. This is easily prevented by equipping each with an inexpensive vacuum-breaker, sold at all hardware stores. Also called a backflow preventer, this inexpensive little device simply attaches to the existing faucet. Their use is required by code on all faucets which have threads for hose connections.

Flush toilets should have anti-siphon ballcocks (the fill valves for flush tanks) to ensure that no water from the flush tank flows back into your water lines. The flush tank is the water tank located at the back of the toilet, the water from which is released to flush the toilet bowl. While this tank water is "fresh" water, not sewage water, it is not sterile. Tanks are breeding grounds for bacteria. Moreover, when a plunger is used on a toilet bowl, a small amount of water from the toilet bowl is forced back into this tank. Backflow prevention ensures that the tank water will not siphon from the tank to the water supply when the water pressure drops.

A large number of homes in our area are improperly equipped with plumbing fixtures which do not meet code and are dangerous to health. This situation is the result of our local hardware stores continuing to stock and sell the wrong equipment to unsuspecting home owners despite these protective features having been required by Virginia code for over 20 years.

You can help by asking your local hardware store to train their sales personnel in what is legal for homeowners to install and, of course, to stop selling other fixtures.

Inspecting your toilets and hoses is not difficult. When you lift off the tank top, you will see the vertical hollow overflow tube in center stage. That thing to the left and slightly behind it is the ballcock the valve where the incoming fresh water is turned on and off by the rising and falling of the float ball. For code compliance and safety, (1) that valve should be one inch or more above the hole on the overflow tube and (2) the float should be stamped "anti-siphon." If in doubt, call a plumber to make the inspection for you.