高级口译难度相当于 年3月高级口译下半场阅读理解第二篇原文

年3月高级口译下半场阅读理解第二篇原文  

More Western towns adopt 'toilet to tap' strategy to water conservation

This summer
Texas' drought of the century is an unfortable reminder that often there just isn't enough water to go around. But the 40 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and minuscule rainfall may also be boosting the case for a new freshwater source being developed in Big Spring
Texas
and surrounding cities.
With a waste-water-to-drinking-water treatment plant now under construction
Big Spring will soon join the growing list of cities that use recycled sewage water for drinking water – a practice that the squeamish call "toilet to tap."
The trend is expanding as climbing temperatures and dry weather across the West force environmentalists
politicians
and citizens to find newer
better solutions to freshwater resources.
Heat wave: Four things that will rise with the temperatures
"It's really a natural and cost-effective [solution] when you don't have another resource available
" says David Sedlak
professor of civil and environmental engineering and codirector of the Berkeley Water Center at the University of California
Berkeley. "We have to recognize that as the population of the country continues to move out into the West and as climate change continually reduces the water supply
these issues are going to bee more and more important."
The $13 million Big Spring Water Reclamation Plant
due to open early next year
will pump 2 million gallons of water each day to Big Spring and three nearby cities – Stanton
Midland
and Odessa – using the waste water produced by area residents.
"The neat thing about it is that we'll be able to use 100 percent of the water
100 percent of the time
" says John Grant
general manager of Colorado River Municipal Water District
which serves Big Spring.
Mr. Grant
who began looking into alternative water supplies nearly 12 years ago
says Public feedback runs the gamut from "There's no way I'm going to drink this" to "Why haven't y'all done this sooner?"
Water reuse plants are not new
and municipalities in states from California to Florida have them.
How it works
In southern California
the largest water purification plant in the world produces 70 million gallons of water every day using recycled sewage water. The $480 million Groundwater Replenishment System (GRS) in Orange County takes already-treated waste water from the sanitation district next door and sends it through a rigorous three-step cleaning process to produce high-quality water that tastes like bottled water
says Michael Markus
general manager of the Orange County Water District.
The water first undergoes microfiltration to eradicate suspended solids
protozoa
bacteria
and some viruses. Second
it undergoes reverse osmosis – a process monly used for improving water for drinking by forcing it through a filter. Finally
high-intensity ultraviolet light bined with hydrogen peroxide destroys any remaining anic pounds.
"We need to find ways to find more reliable sources of water
and recycling is
in our mind
the best way to do that
" Mr. Markus says. "This is a source we can count on
because we can control it."
The GRS is classified as an indirect potable reuse plant
which means its purified output doesn't go directly into the drinking water distribution system. Instead
the water is piped to a large ground water basin
where it sits for about six months. The aquifer serves as an environmental buffer beeen the purification plant and the tap.
"From a public perception standpoint
if you take [the water] back to the environment
the public's memory of where it's been is taken away
" says UC Berkeley's Mr. Sedlak.
Public's resistance
The biggest hurdle in water reuse is public acceptance – or the "yuck factor
" say experts. "Toilet to tap" is unappealing to many people even though the water is high-quality and pure.
"That's a stigma that people need to get over
" says Davis Ford
adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin and an expert in environmental and water resources engineering. "[Water reuse] is not new science. It's absolutely safe with the disinfection we have ... it's good-quality water."