Anyone driving past the water tower in the village of Sussex, Wisconsin on Wednesday got quite a greeting. Workers were halfway through giving the water tower a fresh coat of paint, meaning the water tower was blaring out the word “sex” to the passing world. The village is around 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee in southeast Wisconsin.

‘Sex’ without the ‘Sus’ while waiting for the paint to dry

As reported by WTMJ-TV, the workers were halfway through painting the name of the town on the water tower when they stopped to allow the paint to dry. Mashable said they were having a “venting issue” at the time.

The workers were planning to complete the paint job on Thursday.

TMJ4 interviewed the contractor who explained that they were at the mid-phase of their work. He said they had a starting point at the top of the water tank and they started in a circle. He said when they complete the work on Thursday, the other side of the tank will be painted and the town’s name will be correctly denoted as “Sussex.”

When the contractor – who also appears to find the situation amusing – was asked what their reaction was to the public hooting as they drove by, he said they kind of like the hoots and the passing traffic. He asked, when do you ever get the chance to paint ‘sex’ on a water tower?

When asked if he was surprised with all of the attention, the worker replied, “no, sir.”

Mother nearly drives off the road seeing ‘sex’ on the water tower

However, one passing driver told the television station that she almost drove off the road when her son noticed the word “sex” on the water tower as they drove by. The eight-year-old asked her why the sign said “sex” and she immediately decided they weren’t having that conversation that day.

Bruss added that while the unfinished work is funny for adults, everyone should remember that children are seeing it, too.

This is nothing new

The contractor mentioned that the same thing happened before when the water tower was painted back in 1996. According to Mashable one of the residents, Chris Aykroid, wrote about it on his website and even got a mention in Playboy.

According to the contractor, it also happened when the tower was painted two years ago, so it may be turning into a regular thing.

The village administrator said he believes the workers left the sign as it was for their own amusement, which does sound likely, and apparently there is no guarantee this won’t happen again when they start painting the other side of the water tower. This strange news certainly provides a break from other less savory stories in the media.

Readers can hear the interview with the contractor below.
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