Occoquan residents will once again hear the blaring sound of a warning siren used to alert residents in the event of a dam break.
Fairfax Water will sound the siren on Wednesday, November 18, at 10 a.m. According to the water service’s website, the sirens were installed to warn residents of the Town of Occoquan, which lies below the dam, “in the highly unlikely” even of a massive failure.
The dam siren was last tested about a year ago.
Here’s more information about the dam from Fairfax Water.
Fairfax Water owns and operates the Occoquan Dam which forms the Occoquan Reservoir as a drinking water source for Northern Virginia. The Occoquan Reservoir holds approximately 8.3 billion gallons of water. The Occoquan Dam was built in the early 1950s to create the Occoquan Reservoir. The dam is inspected and maintained on a routine basis. The structural integrity of the Occoquan Dam is very sound. In fact, through rigorous maintenance and improvements, it is even stronger today than when it was constructed. As a precaution in the extremely unlikely event of a structural failure, Fairfax Water has installed a siren warning system to alert persons downstream of the dam in the event of dam failure.
