Evening star., 1955-10-03
S Forward Look

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Thank you for your editorial
Of September Is, commenting
favorably on the action Of the
Fairfax Board Of County Su-
pervisors in accepting my sug-
gestion that a study be made 70
determine which streams In
the county. II any. should be
protected from sewage treat
ment plants and preserved for
recreational purposes. 1t is
my hope that something
worthwhile win come Of the
study, and that 1t might be
Of some help in protecting the
water supply Of the District.
Arlington and Falls Church.
in which we also are inter-
ested. In view Of the reluc-
tance Of some board members
and the closeness Of the vote
on the question. however. 1t
Is doubtful II the study viii
be Of much value unless pub
lie interest Is expressed In IL.
The Star Is to be coneratu-
lated on the service II has per.
formed for the area In helping
to focus attention on the prob
lem Of pollution of the Poto-
mac. Your editorial writer.
however. indicates some con-
fusion on what Fairfax County
has been doing to clear up It's
share Of this pollution. He sug-
gests that Fairfax will have
to consider another step for
ward: Moving TO dispose Of
its sewage In one efficient, con-
soIidated operation. as other
communities In the area are
already trying to do"
Unfortunately Fairfax Coun-
ty's 407 square mile area,
which embraces eight large
watersheds as wen as numbers
Of smaller ones, does not lend
itself to disposal Of sewage by
one consolidated operation
such as can be done in smaller
areas in Arlington, Thea city
Of Alexandria, and even the
District of Columbia. In 1850,
all the political subdivisions
in Northern Virginia author
ized an engineering survey to
determine whether they could
handle the problem more eco
nomically on a joint basis. The
report recommended against q
joint operation except in the
case Of the city Of Alexandria
and the excess above the ca
pacity Of Fairfax County's
large disposal plant. then un-
der construction on the Holmes
Runs water shed. This Joint
plant Is now under construc-
tion by the City Of Alexandria
Sanitation Authority. II should
be pointed out that many large
cities find 1t more economical
to handle this problem by
means Of several plants rather
than one large one.
The engineering report indi-
Gated, and subsequent studies
made for Fairfax County have
confirmed this. that Fairfax
could best take care Of the
sewage disposal problem by
developing sewers and separate
disposal plants in four sepa-
rate watersheds. Since 1850
Fairfax County has authorized
q total Of $23 million for con-
struction Of sewers and sewage
disposal plants. The Belleview
plant, which Is completed,
serves the Holmes Run and
Back Lick watersheds. This
plant is designed to provide IS
per cent removal. The Pimmit.
Little Hunting Greek and
Dogue Greek plants should be
under construction in o few
weeks. One will give secondary
treatment, the other two only
primary treatment in their
initial stages until capacity
SUFFICIENT to require secondary
treatment is reached. At that
time. under the direction Of
health and engineering author
tiles, secondary treatment IA
cilities viii be installed.
The problem which prompt
ed the request for a study Of
our streams was not one stem
ming from the county-operated
plants. which are designed ini-
tally to take care of the urban
areas Of the county. but rather
from the pressure Of prospec-
tive land developers who pur-
chase open land cheaper In
other watersheds, and who
naturally wish to build small
treatment plants far upstream
with capacity sufficient only to
take care Of the problems Of
the one subdivision.
Fairfax County's as yet un-
approved master plan for resi-
dential development was based
primarily on the already exist
ing sewer plan. It is intended
to guide development into the
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