2022年10月27日 VOA慢速英語： 科羅拉多州可能成為美國第一個重復利用水資源的州

 

Colorado's water quality agency recently gave early approval to rules about direct potable reuse. It is a process of treating sewage and sending it directly for use without first putting it in a large water body.
科羅拉多州的水質機構最近提前批準了有關直接飲用水再利用的規(guī)定。這是一個處理污水并直接將其送去使用的過程，而無需先將其放入大型水體中。
 
Should the move be approved in a final vote in November, the western state would become the first in the United States to adopt direct potable reuse rules, state and federal officials say.
州和聯(lián)邦官員表示，如果這一舉措在 11 月的最終投票中獲得批準，西部州將成為美國第一個采用直接飲用水再利用規(guī)則的州。
 
Kevin Reidy of the Colorado Water Conservation Board said that as Colorado's population increases, drinking water reuse is an important way to deal with reduced water supplies.
科羅拉多州水資源保護委員會的 Kevin Reidy 表示，隨著科羅拉多州人口的增加，飲用水回用是應對供水減少的重要途徑。
 
The water reuse treatment process usually involves disinfecting wastewater with ozone gas or ultraviolet light to remove viruses and bacteria. Then the water is put through barriers with very small openings, or pores, that remove solids and dangerous materials known as contaminants.
中水回用處理過程通常涉及用臭氧氣體或紫外線對廢水進行消毒，以去除病毒和細菌。然后將水通過具有非常小的開口或孔隙的屏障，以去除固體和稱為污染物的危險物質。
 
The process is gaining interest as communities deal with long periods without enough rain. While many U.S. states do not directly forbid this kind of water reuse, statewide rules could bring quicker adoption, said Reidy.
隨著社區(qū)長時間沒有足夠的降雨，這個過程正在引起人們的興趣。Reidy 說，雖然美國許多州并沒有直接禁止這種水回用，但全州范圍內(nèi)的規(guī)則可能會帶來更快的采用。
 
There are no exact federal rules for direct potable reuse. However, reuse projects must meet federal health rules for drinking water.
直接飲用水再利用沒有確切的聯(lián)邦規(guī)則。但是，再利用項目必須符合聯(lián)邦飲用水衛(wèi)生規(guī)定。
 
Florida, California and Arizona are now working on rules for direct potable water reuse. And several other states are beginning the process or have existing projects. As the water level of the Colorado River continues to drop, Arizona faces deep water cuts, while pressure grows for California to give up more of its share.
佛羅里達州、加利福尼亞州和亞利桑那州目前正在制定直接飲用水再利用的規(guī)則。其他幾個州正在開始這一進程或已有項目。隨著科羅拉多河的水位繼續(xù)下降，亞利桑那州面臨著深度減水，而加利福尼亞州放棄更多份額的壓力越來越大。
 
Denver and Colorado Springs — Colorado's most populous cities — already recycle most of their water through exchanges with other cities and for non-drinking uses, such as watering parks. Both cities expect to someday reuse water for drinking purposes, but officials are concerned their reusable supplies from the stressed Colorado River soon could face cuts.
丹佛和科羅拉多斯普林斯——科羅拉多州人口最多的城市——已經(jīng)通過與其他城市的交換和非飲用用途（例如澆水公園）回收了大部分水。這兩個城市都希望有一天能夠將水重新用于飲用目的，但官員們擔心他們來自壓力大的科羅拉多河的可重復使用的供水很快就會面臨削減。
 
Greg Fisher of Denver Water was concerned about the time it takes to build a large direct potable reuse system.
丹佛水務公司的 Greg Fisher 擔心建造大型直接飲用水再利用系統(tǒng)所花費的時間。
 
"If you've built a big direct potable reuse system and you don't have it even for a few years, that causes some problems," he said.
“如果你已經(jīng)建立了一個大型的直接飲用水再利用系統(tǒng)，而你甚至幾年都沒有它，那會導致一些問題，”他說。
 
"If we are relying on those reusable (drinking water) supplies to meet our customers' needs, our ability to meet their needs is put at risk," Fisher added.
“如果我們依靠那些可重復使用的（飲用水）供應品來滿足客戶的需求，我們滿足他們需求的能力就會面臨風險，”費舍爾補充道。
 
Creative uses of recycled water
循環(huán)水的創(chuàng)造性使用
 
Still, some people in Colorado are already making creative use of recycled water.
盡管如此，科羅拉多州的一些人已經(jīng)在創(chuàng)造性地利用再生水。
 
When Eric Seufert brewed a test batch of beer in 2017 with water from recycled sewage, he was not too concerned about the outcome. The engineering company that contacted him about the test explained the process, and together they drank samples of recycled water. Seufert quickly understood the process was not too different from how water is normally treated.
當 Eric Seufert 在 2017 年用回收污水中的水釀造了一批測試啤酒時，他并不太擔心結果。聯(lián)系他進行測試的工程公司解釋了這個過程，他們一起喝了循環(huán)水的樣本。Seufert 很快意識到這個過程與通常的水處理方式并沒有太大的不同。
 
"Every … river in this country has someone putting in their wastewater after they've treated it," he said.
“這個國家的每條……河流在處理完廢水后，都會有人將其倒入廢水中，”他說。
 
After opening the beer and having a taste, the owner of 105 West Brewing Co. in Castle Rock, Colorado now served it to others.
打開啤酒并品嘗后，科羅拉多州城堡石市 105 West Brewing Co. 的老板現(xiàn)在將其提供給其他人。
 
Seufert already knows he can make good beer from recycled water. He is more worried about keeping the cost of business down.
Seufert 已經(jīng)知道他可以用再生水釀造優(yōu)質啤酒。他更擔心降低業(yè)務成本。
 
"I'm concerned that the resources will be there for the planned growth in an affordable way for this region," Seufert said. "But, as of now, I trust that" state officials "are working on it."
Seufert 說：“我擔心該地區(qū)的資源將以負擔得起的方式用于計劃中的增長。” “但是，到目前為止，我相信‘州政府官員’正在努力解決這個問題。”