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Reading passage Grade 7 Science

Why Buried Water Pipes Break, and What It Costs to Fix Them

A grade 7 science reading passage on aging water pipes, using a report-card table and national repair-cost figures so students cite evidence about infrastructure.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify why buried water mains break as they age.
  2. Students will cite passage evidence about the scale and cost of pipe repairs.

Vocabulary

Water main
A big underground pipe that carries drinking water beneath the streets to a neighborhood. Smaller service lines branch off it to reach each building.

Also: infrastructure, corrode, report card

Teacher overview

Water mains run buried under nearly every street, and they wear out and break as they age. This passage explains why aging water mains fail, how often it happens across the country, and what it costs to keep the system working. A report-card table lets students practice reading data alongside text. Assign it to build background on infrastructure and to give students a clear text for citing evidence.

Why Buried Water Pipes Break, and What It Costs to Fix Them — Grade 7 Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Under almost every street runs a water main, a large pipe that carries clean water to homes and schools. Many of these pipes were buried long ago. In the fictional city of Grayson, one main under Oak Street was laid in 1925. Pipes from that time were built to last, yet even well-made pipes weaken after a century underground.

Buried pipes face steady stress. The soil around them shifts with the seasons. Water pressure inside the pipe pushes out on the walls day and night. Over many years, metal pipes corrode, which means they slowly rust and weaken. Cold winters make the problem worse, because freezing ground squeezes the pipe until a weak spot cracks.

When a main breaks, the results are quick and costly. Water rushes out under pressure and can tear up the street above. Crews must shut off the water, dig down to the pipe, and repair or replace it. While the water is off, nearby homes and businesses may have no service.

Breaks are not rare. Across the United States, a water main breaks roughly every two minutes. Each break wastes treated water that a plant already paid to clean, and each repair costs money and time.

Engineers grade the condition of the country's systems. Every few years, the American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation's infrastructure a report card. In 2025, drinking water earned a C- and wastewater earned a D+. Those low grades reflect how much of the buried pipe network is old and overdue for replacement.

Fixing all of it is a huge job. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about $625 billion is needed over 20 years to keep drinking-water systems working. About two-thirds of that need is for the distribution pipes that carry water through neighborhoods. That is where most of the aging metal lies.

Someone has to pay for these repairs, and much of the cost lands on water bills. From 2019 to 2024, combined water and sewer bills rose about 24 percent, faster than prices in general. Utilities raise rates in part to replace pipes before they fail. Communities face a hard choice: pay more now to fix pipes on a schedule, or pay later for emergency repairs after a break floods a street.

System 2025 report-card grade
Drinking water C-
Wastewater D+

Aging pipes are easy to ignore because they are out of sight. Yet the water that reaches a faucet depends on them every day. The engineers who study this problem argue that steady, planned investment now is cheaper than the flood of emergency repairs that comes when old pipes are left in the ground too long.

Questions

  1. What is a water main, and where is it located?
  2. According to the passage, name two reasons buried metal pipes break as they get older.
  3. Look at the report-card table. What grade did drinking water receive in 2025, and how does that grade fit the passage's description of the pipe network?
  4. About how often does a water main break somewhere in the United States?
  5. Why might a community choose to raise water rates before its pipes fail, rather than after?
  6. The passage says about $625 billion is needed over 20 years for drinking-water systems. Using details from the text, explain why so much of that money is aimed at distribution pipes.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: A large pipe that carries clean water.
    The passage says a water main is a large pipe that carries clean water to homes and schools, and that it runs buried under almost every street.
  2. Answer: Corrosion and freezing ground.
    The passage explains that metal pipes corrode and weaken over many years, and that freezing winter ground squeezes pipes until a weak spot cracks. Shifting soil and constant water pressure are also accepted.
  3. Answer: A C-.
    The table shows drinking water earned a C- in 2025, which matches the passage's point that much of the buried pipe network is old and overdue for replacement.
  4. Answer: About every two minutes.
    The passage states that across the United States, a water main breaks roughly every two minutes.
  5. Answer: Planned repairs cost less than emergencies.
    The passage explains that paying to replace pipes on a schedule is cheaper than paying later for emergency repairs after a break floods a street, so utilities raise rates to fund replacement early.
  6. Answer: Distribution pipes are most of the aging network.
    The passage says about two-thirds of the $625 billion need is for the distribution pipes that carry water through neighborhoods, because that is where most of the old metal lies.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a short vocabulary box for "water main," "corrode," and "report card" before reading, and let students answer questions 1 and 4 by underlining the sentence in the passage that gives the answer.

Extension

Ask students to write a short paragraph arguing whether Grayson should raise rates now to replace its 1925 main, citing at least two pieces of evidence from the passage about cost and risk.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "buried," "corrode," and "break" with a simple diagram of a cracked pipe under a street. Allow students to answer questions 1, 2, and 4 with short phrases, and pair them with a partner to read the passage in sections.