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DavidSedlak_2015X-_四种方法避免毁灭性旱灾_
Our grandparents' generation created an amazing system of canals and reservoirs that made it possible for people to live in places where there wasn't a lot of water. 我们爷爷那一代人, 修建了伟大的运河和水库系统, 让人们可以在缺水的地方正常生活。
reservoirs:n.[水利]水库(reservoir的复数);
For example, during the Great Depression , they created the Hoover Dam, which in turn, created Lake Mead and made it possible for the cities of Las Vegas and Phoenix and Los Angeles to provide water for people who lived in a really dry place. 比如在大萧条时代, 他们修建了胡佛水坝, 拦下的水形成了米德湖, 为几个位于干旱地区的城市, 比如拉斯维加斯、凤凰城 和洛杉矶供水, 让那里的市民有水可用。
Depression:n.沮丧;洼地;不景气;忧愁; Hoover:vi.胡佛电动吸尘;n.胡佛电动吸尘器; Mead:n.蜂蜜酒;草地; Phoenix:n.凤凰;死而复生的人;
In the 20th century, we literally spent trillions of dollars building infrastructure to get water to our cities. 在二十世纪,我们花费了数万亿美元, 为我们的城市修建供水系统。
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: trillions:n.[数]万亿;adj.万亿的;num.[数]万亿; infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造;
In terms of economic development, it was a great investment . 对经济发展而言,这是笔不错的投资。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; investment:n.投资;投入;封锁;
But in the last decade, we've seen the combined effects of climate change, population growth and competition for water resources threaten these vital lifelines and water resources. 但在过去几十年间,我们看到 气候变化、人口增长 和水资源争夺带来的后果, 已经威胁到我们赖以生存的水资源。
competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); vital:adj.至关重要的;生死攸关的;有活力的; lifelines:n.生命线(lifeline的复数形式);救生索(栏);
This figure shows you the change in the lake level of Lake Mead that happened in the last 15 years. 这张图表显示的是米德湖的水位 在过去15年的变化情况。
You can see starting around the year 2000, the lake level started to drop. 差不多从2000年开始, 水位开始下降。
And it was dropping at such a rate that it would have left the drinking water intakes for Las Vegas high and dry . 下降的速度如此之快, 很快,为拉斯维加斯 供水的管道将抽不到水。
drinking water:n.饮用水; intakes:摄取量;通风口;引入口;引入的量(intake的复数); high and dry:搁浅;孤立无援;处于困境;
The city became so concerned about this that they recently constructed a new drinking water intake structure that they referred to as the "Third Straw " 拉斯维加斯很担心这一点 他们最近铺设了一条新的抽水管道, 称之为“第三吸管”,
concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) recently:adv.最近;新近; constructed:v.修建;建造;组成;编制,绘制;(construct的过去分词和过去式) referred:v.提到;引用;认为;指示;涉及;(refer的过去式和过去分词) Straw:n.稻草; adj.稻草的;
to pull water out of the greater depths of the lake. 从湖的更深处抽水。
The challenges associated with providing water to a modern city are not restricted to the American Southwest. 向现代都市供水的难题 不仅仅发生在美国西南部。
associated:adj.有关联的; v.联想; (associate的过去分词和过去式) restricted:adj.受限制的;保密的;v.限制(restrict的过去式和过去分词);
In the year 2007, the third largest city in Australia, Brisbane, came within 6 months of running out of water. 2007年,澳大利亚第三大城市,布里斯班, 整整6个月无水可用。
A similar drama is playing out today in S?o Paulo, Brazil , where the main reservoir for the city has gone from being completely full in 2010, to being nearly empty today as the city approaches the 2016 Summer Olympics. 同样的情况也在巴西圣保罗上演, 圣市最主要的水库 在2010年还几乎全满, 如今已几乎见底, 而他们还将举办2016夏季奥运会。
drama:n.戏剧;戏剧艺术;戏剧文学;戏剧性事件; Brazil:n.巴西(拉丁美洲国家); approaches:v.靠近,接近; n.方式,方法,态度;
For those of us who are fortunate enough to live in one of the world's great cities, we've never truly experienced the effects of a catastrophic drought . 我们足够幸运, 能够生活在世界上最伟大的城市之一, 我们从未真正经历过大旱灾。
fortunate:adj.幸运的;交好运的;吉利的; catastrophic:adj.灾难的;悲惨的;灾难性的,毁灭性的; drought:n.干旱;缺乏;
We like to complain about the navy showers we have to take. 我们会抱怨洗澡的水不够大。
complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说; navy:n.海军;深蓝色的;
We like our neighbors to see our dirty cars and our brown lawns . 我们也经常不洗车,不浇草坪。
lawns:n.[建]草地(lawn的复数形式); v.将地修改成草坪(lawn的第三人称单数);
But we've never really faced the prospect of turning on the tap and having nothing come out. 但我们从未经历过拧开水龙头, 却无水可用的状况。
prospect:n.展望;前景;希望;前途;v.勘探;探矿;
And that's because when things have gotten bad in the past, it's always been possible to expand a reservoir or dig a few more groundwater wells. 因为在过去,如果发生这样的事情, 我们总是能把水库修得更大些, 或者多挖几口水井。
expand:v.扩张;使膨胀;详述;发展;张开,展开; groundwater:n.地下水;
Well, in a time when all of the water resources are spoken for, it's not going to be possible to rely on this tried and true way of providing ourselves with water. 但如果所有的水资源都枯竭了, 那这种曾经屡试不爽的老办法 可能就不适用了。
rely:vi.依靠;信赖;
Some people think that we're going to solve the urban water problem by taking water from our rural neighbors. 有些人觉得,要解决城市用水问题, 从临近的农村取水就好了。
urban:adj.城市的;都市的;城镇的;都市音乐的; rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的;
But that's an approach that's fraught with political, legal and social dangers. 但这种方法充满了 政治、法律和社会风险。
fraught:adj.担心的,忧虑的;充满…的; legal:adj.法律的;合法的;法定的;
And even if we succeed in grabbing the water from our rural neighbors, we're just transferring the problem to someone else and there's a good chance it will come back and bite us in the form of higher food prices and damage to the aquatic ecosystems that already rely upon that water. 即便我们能从农村取水, 那也不过是将问题转嫁到了别人头上, 而且很有可能,它会反噬到我们身上 要么会抬高食品价格, 要么会破坏水生生态系统。
grabbing:v.抓住;夺得;利用,抓住(机会)(grab的现在分词) transferring:n.[计]转移,传递;v.移动,[计]转移(transfer的现在分词形式); aquatic:adj.水生的;水栖的;在水中或水面进行的;n.水上运动;水生植物或动物; ecosystems:n.生态系统(ecosystem的复数); rely upon:依靠;依赖;取决于;
I think that there's a better way to solve our urban water crisis and I think that's to open up four new local sources of water that I liken to faucets . 我认为可以用更好的办法 来解决我们的城市用水危机, 就是下面我将要说的4种新水源, 我把它们比作4个水龙头。
crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; liken:vt.比拟;把…比作; faucets:n.(美)(自来水管等的)龙头(faucet的复数);
If we can make smart investments in these new sources of water in the coming years, we can solve our urban water problem and decrease the likelihood that we'll ever run across the effects of a catastrophic drought. 在未来数年里,如果我们 能对这4种新水源 进行明智的投资, 我们就能解决城市用水问题, 使我们遭遇大旱灾的可能性 大大降低。
investments:n.[经]投资,投资的财产;投资学;(investment的复数) decrease:v.降低;减少;缩小;减弱;n.减少;减小量;所减少的总量;减缩位置; likelihood:n.可能性,可能; run across:偶然遇到;跑着穿过;
Now, if you told me 20 years ago that a modern city could exist without a supply of imported water, 如果在20年前,你告诉我, 现代城市可以在没有 外来水源的情况下得以发展,
I probably would have dismissed you as an unrealistic and uninformed dreamer . 我可能会觉得你是痴人说梦。
dismissed:v.不予考虑;摒弃;去除,消除;解雇;(dismiss的过去分词和过去式) unrealistic:adj.不切实际的;不实在的; uninformed:adj.无知的;未被通知的;未受教育的;不学无术的; dreamer:n.梦想家;做梦的人;不切实际的人;
But my own experiences working with some of the world's most water-starved cities in the last decades have shown me that we have the technologies and the management skills to actually transition away from imported water, and that's what I want to tell you about tonight. 但在过去的几十年里, 我一直在世界上最缺水的城市工作, 这段经历告诉我,我们的技术和管理能力 已经可以不依赖于外来水源, 这就是今晚我想跟大家分享的。
water-starved:adj.缺水的; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段; transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡;
The first source of local water supply that we need to develop to solve our urban water problem will flow with the rainwater that falls in our cities. 要解决城市用水问题, 我们需要发展的第一种本地新水源 就是从天而降的雨水。
water supply:供水; rainwater:n.雨水;软水;
One of the great tragedies of urban development is that as our cities grew, we started covering all the surfaces with concrete and asphalt . 城市发展带来的最大灾难之一, 就是随着城市越变越大, 我们将所有地面都用 水泥和沥青覆盖起来了。
tragedies:n.悲惨的事;不幸;灾难;悲剧作品;(tragedy的复数) concrete:n.混凝土;adj.混凝土制的;确实的,具体的;vt.用混凝土覆盖 asphalt:n.沥青;柏油;v.以沥青铺;adj.用柏油铺成的;
And when we did that, we had to build storm sewers to get the water that fell on the cities out before it could cause flooding, and that's a waste of a vital water resource. 这样一来,我们必须修建巨大的排水管道, 将落在城市里的雨水排出去, 以免引发洪灾, 这对水资源是极大的浪费。
sewers:n.排水沟,[建]下水道; v.为…铺设污水管道(sewer的第三人称单数形式);
Let me give you an example. 让我来举个例子。
This figure here shows you the volume of water that could be collected in the city of San Jose if they could harvest the stormwater that fell within the city limits. 这张图表显示的是 圣何塞市能够收集到的雨水百分比, 与收集到的雨水总量间的关系。
volume:n.体积;容积;音量;响度;一册;合订本 stormwater:un.暴雨水;暴雨蓄积;
You can see from the intersection of the blue line and the black dotted line that if San Jose could just capture half of the water that fell within the city, they'd have enough water to get them through an entire year. 注意看蓝线和黑虚线相交的地方, 如果圣何塞市能收集它降雨量的一半, 就足够全市用上一年。
intersection:n.交叉;十字路口;交集;交叉点; dotted line:n.虚线;点线; capture:v.俘虏;捕获;攻占;夺得;刻画,描述;n.(被)捕获;(被)俘获
Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking. 我知道,有人可能会想,
'"The answer to our problem is to start building great big tanks and attaching them to the downspouts of our roof gutters , rainwater harvesting." “那要解决用水问题, 只要做一些巨大的储水罐 跟屋顶排水沟的落水管连在一起, 收集雨水就行了。”
attaching:v.把…固定,把…附(在…上);重视;参加,缠着;(attach的现在分词) downspouts:n.漏斗;浇口;漏管;放流槽;(downspouts是downspout的复数) gutters:n.水沟,水槽(gutter的复数形式); v.开沟于…;
Now, that's an idea that might work in some places. 这方法在某些地方可能有用。
But if you live in a place where it mainly rains in the winter time and most of the water demand is in the summertime , it's not a very cost-effective way to solve a water problem. 但如果你居住的城市冬天经常下雨, 而夏天用水量大, 这个方法就不是那么有效了。
mainly:adv.大多;大部分;主要地;首要地; summertime:n.夏季; cost-effective:adj.划算的;成本效益好的(等于cost-efficient);
And if you experience the effects of a multiyear drought, like California's currently experiencing, you just can't build a rainwater tank that's big enough to solve your problem. 而且,如果你所处的地方常年干旱, 就像今天的加利福尼亚州一样, 你做多大的储水罐也解决不了问题。
multiyear:多年度; currently:adv.当前;一般地;
I think there's a lot more practical way to harvest the stormwater and the rainwater that falls in our cities, and that's to capture it and let it percolate into the ground. 我认为有更加现实的方法 来收集城市里的雨水, 那就是收集之后,让它渗入地下。
practical:adj.实际的;真实的;客观存在的;n.实习课;实践课; percolate:vi.过滤;渗出;浸透;vt.使渗出;使过滤;n.滤过液;渗出液;
After all, many of our cities are sitting on top of a natural water storage system that can accommodate huge volumes of water. 这样一来,我们城市的地底下 就有了一个天然的储水系统, 可以储存大量的水。
accommodate:vt.容纳;使适应;供应;调解;vi.适应;调解; volumes:n.卷;体积;容积;大量;(volumes是volume的复数)
For example, historically , Los Angeles has obtained about a third of its water supply from a massive aquifer that underlies the San Fernando Valley. 比如说,在过去的洛杉矶, 它的用水量的三分之一都来自 圣费尔南多谷的地下蓄水层。
historically:adv.历史上地;从历史观点上说; obtained:v.获得(obtain的过去分词); massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的; aquifer:n.(美)蓄水层;含水土层; underlies:vt.成为…的基础;位于…之下;
Now, when you look at the water that comes off of your roof and runs off of your lawn and flows down the gutter, you might say to yourself, "Do I really want to drink that stuff ?" 当你看到雨水从房顶滴落, 漫过草坪,流进沟渠, 你可能会犹豫,“我真的要喝这样的水吗？”
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
Well, the answer is you don't want to drink it until it's been treated a little bit. 毫无疑问,要想喝这水, 得先经过处理。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式)
And so the challenge that we face in urban water harvesting is to capture the water, clean the water and get it underground. 因此,在城市里收集（雨）水有三大挑战, 收集雨水,清洁雨水, 灌入地下。
And that's exactly what the city of Los Angeles is doing with a new project that they're building in Burbank, California. 洛杉矶已经开始这么做了, 他们在加利福尼亚州 伯班克市新建了一个项目。
This figure here shows the stormwater park that they're building by hooking a series of stormwater collection systems, or storm sewers, and routing that water into an abandoned gravel quarry . 这是一个雨水收集园区 他们将众多雨水收集系统 或者排水沟连接起来, 将雨水引入一个废弃的采石场。
hooking:v.(使)钩住,挂住;钩住;钓鱼;(hook的现在分词) series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; routing:v.彻底击败;使溃败;(rout的现在分词) abandoned:adj.被抛弃的放纵的;v.抛弃;丢弃,离开;放弃;(abandon的过去分词和过去式) gravel:n.碎石;砂砾;vt.用碎石铺;使船搁浅在沙滩上;使困惑; quarry:n.采石场;猎物;来源;vi.费力地找;vt.挖出;努力挖掘;
The water that's captured in the quarry is slowly passed through a man-made wetland , and then it goes into that ball field there and percolates into the ground, recharging the drinking water aquifer of the city. 采石场里的水 慢慢通过一个人造湿地 进入旁边的一个球型区域 然后渗入地下, 补充洛杉矶的地下蓄水层。
captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词) man-made:adj.人造的;人工的;合成的; wetland:n.湿地;沼泽地; percolates:vi.过滤;渗出;浸透;vt.使渗出;使过滤;n.滤过液;渗出液; recharging:v.给(电池)充电;恢复体力;休整;(recharge的现在分词)
And in the process of passing through the wetland and percolating through the ground, the water encounters microbes that live on the surfaces of the plants and the surfaces of the soil, and that purifies the water. 这些水在穿过湿地 渗入地下的过程中, 会接触到生活在植物和土壤表面 的微生物, 它们能净化水。
in the process of:在…的过程中; percolating:v.渗入;渗透;逐渐流传;传开;滤煮咖啡;(percolate的现在分词) encounters:v.遭遇(encounter的第三人称单数);邂逅;n.遭遇战(encounter的复数);相见; microbes:n.细菌,[微]微生物;微生物类(microbe的复数形式); purifies:vt.净化;使纯净;vi.净化;变纯净;
And if the water's still not clean enough to drink after it's been through this natural treatment process, the city can treat it again when they pump if back out of the groundwater aquifers before they deliver it to people to drink. 如果水在经过自然净化处理后, 还是不能直接饮用, 管理人员会把 从地下蓄水层抽出来的水 进行二次处理 然后再供市民饮用。
treatment:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论; pump:n.抽水机;泵;打气筒;v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动; aquifers:[地质]含水层;
The second tap that we need to open up to solve our urban water problem will flow with the wastewater that comes out of our sewage treatment plants. 解决城市用水问题的第二个水龙头 是来自污水处理厂 处理过的废水。
wastewater:n.废水,污水; sewage:n.污水;下水道;污物;
Now, many of you are probably familiar with the concept of recycled water. 大家对于循环水应该已经不陌生了。
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; recycled:n.再生纸;回收站;adj.[环境]回收利用的;可循环再造的;
You've probably seen signs like this that tell you that the shrubbery and the highway median and the local golf course is being watered with water that used to be in a sewage treatment plant. 你们也许都见过这样的牌子 上面写着灌木丛、高速公路隔离绿化带 本地高尔夫球场 的灌溉用水 都来自污水处理系统。
shrubbery:n.灌木;[林]灌木林; median:n.n.中值,中位数;三角形中线;梯形中位线;adj.中值的;中央的; golf course:n.高尔夫球场;
We've been doing this for a couple of decades now. 几十年来我们都是这么做的。
But what we're learning from our experience is that this approach is much more expensive that we expected it to be. 但几十年的经验告诉我们, 这样做的成本比我们预期的要高。
Because once we build the first few water recycling systems close to the sewage treatment plant, we have to build longer and longer pipe networks to get that water to where it needs to go. 因为一旦我们在污水处理厂附近 建起水循环系统, 我们就不得不建造越来越长的管网 把水送到需要的地方去。
recycling:n.(资源,垃圾的)回收利用;v.回收;再循环利用(recycle的现在分词);
And that becomes prohibitive in terms of cost. 这笔开销真心不小。
prohibitive:adj.禁止的,禁止性的;抑制的;(费用,价格等)过高的;类同禁止的;
What we're finding is that a much more cost-effective and practical way of recycling wastewater is to turn treated wastewater into drinking water through a two-step process. 我们发现, 更加经济实惠和可行的办法 是将处理过的废水变成饮用水, 只需要两步。
two-step:n.两步舞;拍圆舞曲;两步舞曲;
In the first step in this process we pressurize the water and pass it through a reverse osmosis membrane : a thin, permeable plastic membrane that allows water molecules to pass through 第一步是给水加压, 让它通过反向渗透膜 ——一种很薄的、可渗透的塑料膜—— 水分子可以通过,
pressurize:vt.密封;增压;使…加压,使…压入; reverse:n.反面; v.颠倒; adj.相反的; osmosis:n.[物]渗透;[物]渗透性;渗透作用; membrane:n.膜;薄膜;羊皮纸; permeable:adj.能透过的;有渗透性的; molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数); pass through:穿过;经历;经验;遭受;
but traps and retains the salts, the viruses and the organic chemicals that might be present in the wastewater. 但废水中可能含有的盐、病毒和有机化学物 会被拦截下来。
traps:n.陷阱,捕捉器; v.使落入险境; (trap的第三人称单数和复数) retains:v.保持;持有;保留;聘请(律师等)(retain的第三人称单数) organic:adj.有机的;不使用化肥的;绿色的;有机物的;n.分子有机体; chemicals:n.化学制品;化学品;(chemical的复数)
In the second step in the process, we add a small amount of hydrogen peroxide and shine ultraviolet light on the water. 第二步, 我们往水里加入少量的过氧化氢 然后用紫外线进行照射。
hydrogen peroxide:na.过氧化氢; ultraviolet:adj.紫外的;紫外线的;n.紫外线辐射,紫外光;
The ultraviolet light cleaves the hydrogen peroxide into two parts that are called hydroxyl radicals , and these hydroxyl radicals are very potent forms of oxygen that break do wn mos t organic chemicals. 紫外线能将过氧化氢 分裂成两部分,称为氢氧基, 氢氧基是一种非常强的氧气形式 能够消灭大部分有机化学物。
cleaves:v.劈开;开辟;裂开(cleave的第三人称单数形式); hydroxyl:n.羟基,氢氧基; radicals:n.自由基;激进分子;[数]根基(radical的复数);
After the water's been through this two-stage process, it's safe to drink. 水经过这两步处理之后, 就可以安全饮用了。
two-stage:n.两级;双级;adj.二级的;
I know, 过去15年里,
I've been studying recycled water using every measurement technique known to modern science for the past 15 years. 我一直在运用 现代科学的各种测量方法 来研究循环水。
measurement:n.测量;度量;长度; technique:n.技巧,技术;手法;
We've detected some chemicals that can make it through the first step in the process, but by the time we get to the second step, the advanced oxidation process, we rarely see any chemicals present. 我们发现某些化学物质 无法在步骤一被过滤掉, 但经过第二步: 高级氧化过程之后, 几乎没有化学物质能残留下来。
detected:v.发现;查明;侦察出;(detect的过去分词和过去式) advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) oxidation:n.[化学]氧化; rarely:adv.很少地;难得;罕有地;
And that's in stark contrast to the taken-for-granted water supplies that we regularly drink all the time. 这比我们一直喝的“毫无问题”的水 可安全多了。
contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比; taken-for-granted:理所当然;认为理所当然的;视为当然; regularly:adv.经常地;有规律地;定期的
There's another way we can recycle water. 还有另外一种方法来循环水。
This is an engineered treatment wetland that we recently built on the Santa Ana River in Southern California. 这是我们最近修建的人工湿地 位于加利福尼亚州南部的圣安娜河上。
The treatment wetland receives water from a part of the Santa Ana River that in the summertime consists almost entirely of wastewater effluent from cities like Riverside and San Bernardino. 圣安娜河的部分河水流入人工湿地, 每到夏天,圣安娜河里就全是污水, 都来自里弗赛德市和圣贝纳迪诺市。
consists:v.由…构成;由…组成(consist的三单形式); effluent:n.污水;流出物;废气;adj.流出的,发出的; Riverside:n.河边;河畔;adj.河畔的;
The water comes into our treatment wetland, it's exposed to sunlight and algae and those break down the organic chemicals, remove the nutrients and inactivate the waterborne pathogens . 河水流入我们的人工湿地, 在阳光暴晒和水藻的作用下, 有机化学物被分解, 营养物被消耗,水生病原体被杀死。
exposed:adj.无遮蔽的; v.暴露; (expose的过去分词和过去式) sunlight:n.日光; algae:n.[植]藻类;[植]海藻; nutrients:营养盐;[食品]营养素; inactivate:vt.使不活动;使不活泼;阻止活动; waterborne:adj.水运的;水传播的;由水浮起的; pathogens:n.[基医]病原体;病原菌;[基医]致病菌;
The water gets put back in the Santa Ana River, it flows down to Anaheim , gets taken out at Anaheim and percolated into the ground, and becomes the drinking water of the city of Anaheim , 之后河水流回圣安娜河, 流向安纳海姆市, 河水在那里被抽出, 渗入地下, 成为安纳海姆市的饮用水,
Anaheim:n.阿纳海姆(美国加利福尼亚州西南部城市); percolated:vi.过滤;渗出;浸透;vt.使渗出;使过滤;n.滤过液;渗出液;
completing the trip from the sewers of Riverside County to the drinking water supply of Orange County. 通过这一过程,里弗赛德郡的废水 就变成了橙郡的饮用水。
County:n.郡,县;
Now, you might think that this idea of drinking wastewater is some sort of futuristic fantasy or not commonly done. 也许你们会觉得,将废水变成饮用水, 只是天方夜谭,或者还没有得到推广。
futuristic:adj.未来派的;未来主义的; fantasy:n.幻想; adj.虚幻的; v.空想;
Well, in California, we already recycle about 40 billion gallons a year of wastewater through the two-stage advanced treatment process 实际上,运用我刚刚介绍的两步处理法, 我们每年在加利福尼亚州循环利用的水
gallons:n.加仑;大量(gallon的复数);一加仑的容器;
I was telling you about. 达到了1.5亿立方米。
That's enough water to be the supply of about a million people if it were their sole water supply. 这些水足够供应100万人, 作为他们的主要水源。
sole:n.鞋底; adj.仅有的; v.给(鞋)换底;
The third tap that we need to open up will not be a tap at all, it will be a kind of virtual tap, it will be the water conservation that we manage to do. 我们的第三个水龙头并不是实体, 而是虚拟的, 指的是节约用水。
virtual:adj.[计]虚拟的;实质上的,事实上的(但未在名义上或正式获承认); conservation:n.保存,保持;保护;
And the place where we need to think about water conservation is outdoors because in California and other modern American cities, about half of our water use happens outdoors. 而且主要指的是户外用水, 因为在加利福尼亚以及其他的美国都市, 差不多一半的用水发生在户外。
In the current drought, we've seen that it's possible to have our lawns survive and our plants survive with about half as much water. 即使在现在的干旱状态下, 我们的用水量下降了一半, 但我们的草坪,我们的植物 还是活下来了。
So there's no need to start painting concrete green and putting in Astroturf and buying cactuses . 因此我们还没到把水泥地喷成绿色, 或者改铺人工草皮,改种仙人掌的地步。
Astroturf:n.阿斯特罗特夫尼龙草皮; cactuses:n.[园艺]仙人掌;
We can have California-friendly landscaping with soil moisture detectors and smart irrigation controllers and have beautiful green landscapes in our cities. 在土壤湿度探测器和智能浇灌系统的帮助下, 加州式园林不是梦, 我们的城市依旧可以绿意盎然。
landscaping:v.对…做景观美化;美化…的环境;(landscape的现在分词) moisture:n.水分;湿度;潮湿;降雨量; detectors:n.探测器;侦测设备(detector的复数); irrigation:n.灌溉;[临床]冲洗;冲洗法; controllers:n.[自]控制器(controller的复数形式);管理者;控制部件; landscapes:n.风景; v.从事庭园设计;
The fourth and final water tap that we need to open up to solve our urban water problem will flow with desalinated seawater . 我们需要打开的第四个, 也是最后一个水龙头, 来解决城市用水问题, 是海水淡化。
desalinated:vt.除去…中的盐分;使…脱盐; seawater:n.海水;
Now, I know what you probably heard people say about seawater desalination . 也许你们听人们谈论过海水淡化,
desalination:n.脱盐作用;减少盐分;
'"It's a great thing to do if you have lots of oil, not a lot of water and you don't care about climate change." “海水淡化是很好, 前提是你石油多、淡水少, 而且也不在乎气候变化。”
Seawater desalination is energy-intensive no matter how you slice it. 没错,海水淡化 是一项能源密集型产业。
energy-intensive:un.能源消耗量大的;能量密集的; slice:n.片; v.切成片; (很容易地)切开;
But that characterization of seawater desalination as being a nonstarter is hopelessly out of date . 但如果仅仅因为这样,就将海水淡化 视为没有前途,那就太落伍了。
characterization:n.描述;特性描述; nonstarter:n.早就无成功希望的人;弃权出赛的马; hopelessly:adv.绝望地;无望地;无可救药地; out of date:adj.过时的;
We've made tremendous progress in seawater desalination in the past two decades. 在过去20年间,我们在海水淡化上 已经取得了巨大进展。
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的;
This picture shows you the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western hemisphere that's currently being built north of San Diego. 这张照片上 是在建的西半球最大的海水淡化厂, 位于圣地亚哥市以北。
hemisphere:n.半球;
Compared to the seawater desalination plant that was built in Santa Barbara 25 years ago, this treatment plant will use about half the energy to produce a gallon of water. 与25年前建在圣巴巴拉市 的海水淡化厂相比, 这家海水淡化厂每生产一加仑淡水 的能耗下降了一半。
Compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词)
But just because seawater desalination has become less energy-intensive, doesn't mean we should start building desalination plants everywhere. 当然,海水淡化的能耗降低了, 并不意味着我们就该到处建海水淡化厂。
Among the different choices we have, it's probably the most energy-intensive and potentially environmentally damaging of the options to create a local water supply. 在我们的众多选择中, 在4种新水源中, 海水淡化依然是能耗最大, 最有可能对环境造成危害的。
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地; environmentally:adv.有关环境方面; options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式)
So there it is. 综上所述,
With these four sources of water, we can move away from our reliance on imported water. 有了这4种新水源, 我们不用再依赖进口水。
reliance:n.信赖;信心;受信赖的人或物;
Through reform in the way we landscape our surfaces and our properties, we can reduce outdoor water use by about 50 percent, thereby increasing the water supply by 25 percent. 通过改进我们绿化城市和居民区的方法, 我们可以将户外用水量下降50%, 因此提高25%的供水量。
reform:v.改革;改进;改良;(使)悔改;n.改革;改良;改善; in the way:妨碍;挡道; outdoor:adj.户外的;露天的; thereby:adv.从而,因此;在那附近;在那方面;
We can recycle the water that makes it into the sewer, thereby increasing our water supply by 40 percent. 我们可以循环利用废水, 以此提高40%供水量。
And we can make up the difference through a combination of stormwater harvesting and seawater desalination. 我们可以综合利用 雨水收集和海水淡化。
combination:n.结合;组合;联合;[化学]化合;
So, let's create a water supply that will be able to withstand any of the challenges that climate change throws at us in the coming years. 让我们来创造稳定的水源供应, 足以在未来几年承受气候变化 给我们带来的挑战。
withstand:vt.抵挡;禁得起;反抗;vi.反抗;
Let's create a water supply that uses local sources and leaves more water in the environment for fish and for food. 让我们充分利用本地水源, 将更多的水留给环境, 留给动物,留给食物。
Let's create a water system that's consistent with out environmental values. 让我们创造环境友好型的供水系统。
consistent:adj.始终如一的,一致的;坚持的;
And let's do it for our children and our grandchildren and let's tell them this is the system that they have to take care of in the future because it's our last chance to create a new kind of water system. 让我们为子孙后代而努力, 告诉他们,在未来的岁月里, 他们也应该珍视这个系统 因为这是我们创建 新型供水系统最后的机会。
Thank you very much for your attention. 非常感谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）