Water main breaks close 1,200 eateries

Montgomery officials closed an estimated 1,200 restaurants Monday to prevent outbreaks of illness that could be caused by three major water main breaks in the county as residents skipped showers and boiled their own water.

Prince George’s County and Montgomery County officials were repeatedly warned over the past year by the top management of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the water utility that serves both counties, of just such a failure, unless the region took immediate action to pour money into replacing of aging pipes.