Reading passage Grade 6 Health & Consumer Science
When the Tap Isn't Safe: A Boil-Water Notice in Calder Springs
A grade 6 informational passage that follows a fictional family through a boil-water notice, explaining why it happens and how to stay safe at home.
Objectives
- Students will identify why a broken water pipe can make tap water unsafe to drink.
- Students will explain the steps a household takes during and after a boil-water notice.
Vocabulary
Key words: boil-water notice, pressure, advisory, all clear
Teacher overview
A boil-water notice is one of the most common water warnings a household can receive, and knowing how to respond is a practical health skill. This passage follows the fictional Nabor family through one such notice, using plain steps a sixth grader can follow. Assign it to build health literacy and to give students a text for citing evidence.
Passage
On a normal day, the Nabor family in Calder Springs does not think much about their tap water. They fill a glass, and it is clean. One Tuesday that changed, because a large water pipe under Main Street broke. Crews rushed to fix it, and that afternoon the city sent out a boil-water notice.
A boil-water notice, sometimes called a boil-water advisory, is a warning that the tap water might not be safe to drink right now, and it also tells people what to do to stay safe until the problem is fixed.
Why can a broken pipe make water unsafe? Water in the pipes is normally under pressure, and that pressure keeps the water pushing out toward homes. When a pipe breaks the pressure can drop, and once it drops, dirt and germs from the ground can slip in through the crack. The family cannot see these germs, and the water may still look clear, which is why a notice is needed even when nothing looks wrong.
The notice told the Nabors two ways to make their water safe. The first way was to boil it, because boiling the water for one minute kills germs, and after it cools the water is safe to drink, to cook with, and to use for brushing teeth. The second way was to use bottled water instead.
The Nabors were ready, because they kept a few jugs of clean water in a closet for days like this. Mr. Nabor had filled them weeks before, just in case, so the family did not have to rush to the store when the notice came.
For two days, the family boiled water or used the jugs for drinking and for making food. They still used tap water to wash their hands with soap and to flush the toilet, because those uses do not need water that is safe to drink.
While the family waited, the city was busy. Workers fixed the pipe, then flushed the lines to push out any dirty water, and next tested the water for germs. A notice cannot be lifted until those tests come back clean.
On Thursday, the city sent an "all clear" message, because the tests showed the water was safe again. Only then did the Nabors go back to drinking straight from the tap. They waited for that message on purpose, since until the tests were clean the water could still have made them sick.
The next weekend, Mr. Nabor refilled the jugs in the closet, because he knew another notice could come someday. Being ready had made the hard days much easier.
Questions
- What happened under Main Street that led the city to send a boil-water notice?
- What two ways does the passage give to make the water safe to drink?
- Why can germs get into the water when the pressure in a pipe drops? Use the passage.
- Why did the Nabor family already have jugs of clean water before any problem started?
- Based on the passage, what does the word "advisory" or "notice" mean in this story?
- How did the family know it was finally safe to drink from the tap again, and why did they wait for that message?
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: A large water pipe broke. The passage says a large water pipe under Main Street broke, and the city sent the notice that afternoon.
- Answer: Boil the water or use bottled water. The passage says to boil the water for one minute or to use bottled water instead.
- Answer: Because low pressure lets dirt and germs seep in. The passage explains that pressure normally pushes water out, so when it drops, dirt and germs from the ground can slip in through the crack.
- Answer: So they would be prepared. The passage says Mr. Nabor had filled the jugs weeks before, just in case, so the family did not have to rush to the store.
- Answer: A warning to take a safety step. The passage says a boil-water notice is a warning that the water might not be safe and tells people what to do to stay safe.
- Answer: The city sent an "all clear" after clean tests, and they waited because the water could still be unsafe until the tests came back clean, as the passage states.
Differentiation
Support
Provide a simple five-box timeline (Pipe breaks, Notice sent, Boil or use jugs, City tests water, All clear) for students to reference while answering. Allow question 6 to be answered out loud instead of in writing.
Extension
Ask students to write a short boil-water notice of their own for a different cause, such as a power outage at the treatment plant, using the same clear steps the passage models: what happened, what to do, and how people will learn it is over.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "boil," "notice," "pressure," and "all clear" with simple pictures before reading. Allow students to answer the literal questions (1 and 2) with short phrases, and provide a sentence frame for question 3: "When the pressure drops, ___ can get into the water."