Snow is stopping crews from working to replace the 54-inch water main that burst in Capitol Heights on Monday, but officials say the boil water advisory affecting southern Prince George's County residents likely will be lifted soon. "We just want to make sure our crews are operating in the safest way possible and this is just not good operating conditions for them right now," said Kira Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the water utility for Prince George's and Montgomery counties. The Prince George's Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department warned on Wednesday that snow accumulating on trees and overhead utility lines could result in power outages. Lewis said contractors on Wednesday did not do "significant work" on the broken main and likely won't be able to do any on Thursday because of the weather.

But the snow shouldn't slow down the process of lifting the boil water advisory for 400,000 of the county's residents. Lewis said that could happen as early as Thursday.

Still, that's not fast enough for some residents.

"I mean I could see maybe 24 hours, but I think the amount of time is a little bit excessive," said David Bradley, a retired government worker who lives in Suitland and has been boiling his water since Monday. "I think they should have the results faster than they're saying."

Lewis said that once the boil water advisory is lifted, "essentially everything will back to normal" for residents. The broken main did not cut off water service for any customers, she said. Officials expect it to be fixed by next week. - Alex Pappas