Fairfax Water Loses its Founding Father

James J. Corbalis, Jr.

Fairfax Water has lost its founding father. James J. Corbalis, Jr. (Jay) passed away on September 5, 2006 at the age of 87. Jay was the founding Engineer Director of Fairfax County Water Authority in 1958 and served as such for 27 years until his retirement in 1985. The Fairfax Water Corbalis Water Treatment Plant in Herndon is named in his honor.

On his day of employment, Fairfax Water had neither employees nor a water system. The mission he was given was to establish, operate, and maintain a comprehensive, county-wide water system to be accomplished through the acquisition of existing systems and the construction of new facilities. During his tenure, he was involved with acquiring 26 different water systems serving Fairfax County. On the day of his retirement, Fairfax Water had 326 employees, operated four water treatment plants that produced an average of 87 million gallons per day, had over 2,000 miles of water main within Fairfax County, and served nearly 722,000 people in the Northern Virginia area.

Perhaps the most famous acquisition was the 1967 condemnation suit of the Alexandria Water Company, an investor owned water utility that served the retail customers of Fairfax County as well on a wholesale basis the customers of Prince William County, Fort Belvoir, Lorton Prison Facility and the city of Alexandria as wholesale customers.

Prior to his career at Fairfax Water, Jay was the Engineer-Director of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, Sanitation Authority from 1953-1958 and served as the Fairfax County Sanitary Engineer from 1942-1953. He also served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps during World War II.

Jay received his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College in New York City and continued his graduate studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was a member and officer of a host of professional engineering and water works associations, both locally and nationally, and a recipient of many awards.