Fairfax Sewer County

I’ve lived in Fairfax County, VA for much of my life—about 18 years of it now, believe it or not, in three different stints. I have always hated the Fairfax County Sewer manhole covers. They’re intended to say “Fairfax County” around the outside and “Sewer” in the middle. Well, maybe there’s something wrong with me, but every time I’ve seen one of these—as a child, as a teen, and now as an adult—I instinctively read it as “Fairfax Sewer County.”

Not exactly the message they’re trying to get across.

There are obviously much more important things for Fairfax County to worry about, but really guys, come up with a clearer label for your manhole covers. How about putting “Fairfax County” together as a phrase on the top and then upside-down on the bottom so it can be read from almost any angle. Or, maybe we should just not put the county’s name. We know we’re in Fairfax County, so it really just needs to say “Sewer.”

Just a thought.