CNN News:加州向海水淡化廠求助

California has one of the longest coastlines in the U.S. You might be asking, why can`t it just desalinate? Take the salt out of the Pacific Ocean water.

加利福尼亞擁有美國最長的海岸線。可能你會問：為什么不直接將海水淡化呢?將海水中的鹽分直接去除。

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will run out of water. We absolutely will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE：我們會將水資源耗盡。絕對會。

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT : California is in the midst of the worst drought on record, and yet the need for freshwater is only increasing. In order to meet that demand, cities across the state are turning to rather controversial and expensive technology called desalination, where they turn ocean water into freshwater.

瑞秋·克蘭：CNN 記者：加利福尼亞正處于歷史上最干旱的時(shí)期，然而，對淡水的需求只會繼續(xù)增加。為了滿足這一需求，整個(gè)州的城市都轉(zhuǎn)向具有爭議且價(jià)格昂貴的海水淡化技術(shù)，將海水淡化成為淡水。

Fifteen desalination plants are currently in the works in California, the largest being the $1 billion Carlsbad plant slated to open this November. When operational, it will produce 50 million gallons of fresh water a day through a process called reverse osmosis, which filters out 99.9 percent of the salt.

在加利福尼亞現(xiàn)在有15個(gè)海水淡化工廠處于準(zhǔn)備階段，其中最大的卡爾巴斯德工廠定于今年11月份開工。一旦開始運(yùn)作，通過反滲透技術(shù)，會過濾掉海水中99.9%的鹽分，這樣每天會生產(chǎn)5千萬加侖的淡水

PETER, VICE PRESIDENT, POSEIDON WATER: We certainly didn`t plan on completing the plant during record drought conditions here in California, but it does highlight the importance of what we`re doing, which is to provide a new supply of water, essentially drought-proof water.

彼得, 副主席，POSEIDON WATER：在加利福尼亞最干旱的時(shí)期，我們并沒有計(jì)劃將工廠建成，但是它突出了我們正在從事事情的重要性——提供新的水源，尤其是抗旱的水源。

CRANE: But this drought-proof water source comes at a price. The desalination process is incredibly energy-intensive and the water produced from the plant will cost about twice as much as traditional tap water. A gap the San Diego Water Authority expects will close overtime.

克蘭：但是這樣的水源是需要付出代價(jià)的。淡化海水的過程需要耗費(fèi)大量的能量，同時(shí)從工廠里生產(chǎn)的水所花費(fèi)的價(jià)錢是傳統(tǒng)自來水的兩倍。圣地亞哥水務(wù)局的水費(fèi)的鴻溝以后會不在存在。

Up the coast, Santa Barbara is planning to invest $40 million to reactivate a plant that was built in the `90s, during the state`s last severe drought. The plant ran for just four months before heavy rains ended the dry spell.

沿岸城市，圣巴巴拉正打算，在加州最干旱的時(shí)期，投資4千萬美元重新啟動在90年代修建的工廠。在暴雨結(jié)束那場干旱前，該工廠僅僅運(yùn)作了4個(gè)月。

(on camera): You got floppy disk here. Keyboards with actual keys. Over $30 million investment, only use for four months and then sits here for 23 years.

視頻：這里有軟盤，鍵盤上也有按鍵。投資了3千多萬，僅僅使用了4個(gè)月，然后就在這里空置了23年。

JOSH HAGGMARK, CITY OF SANTA BARBARA: Desalination is expensive. But I -- if you start to look at the economic impacts of a community running out of water, it will dwarf any costs of bringing desalination to this community.

JOSH HAGGMARK，圣巴巴拉市：海水淡化價(jià)格昂貴，但是，如果你看到社會水資源短缺所帶來的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響，那么將海水淡化應(yīng)用到社會所需要付出的代價(jià)，其實(shí)都不是什么大問題了。

CRANE : The city says it will take about 12 to 14 months to update the now very outdated facility. When the plant opens, it will produce 3 million gallons of fresh water a day, or 33 percent of the county`s water. The increase to the average user`s bill: about $20 a month.

克蘭：該市稱將這套過時(shí)的設(shè)備進(jìn)行更新需要花費(fèi)12到14個(gè)月的時(shí)間。當(dāng)這個(gè)工廠開始運(yùn)作，每天會生產(chǎn)3千萬加侖的淡水，或該國33的水源。用戶每月的賬單會增加：約22美元。

(on camera): There are certainly unforeseen negative consequences that come from utilizing this kind of technology.

視頻：當(dāng)然，使用這樣技術(shù)會有一些我們無法預(yù)測的負(fù)面的結(jié)果。

HAGGMARK: I`m not here to say that there`s no impacts from desalination and I think this community is very interested in figuring out how we can mitigate those impacts.

HAGGMARK：我并不是說海水淡化沒有什么負(fù)面影響。我認(rèn)為社會感興趣的是怎樣想辦法減輕這些影響。

We`re using the latest technology of screen open ocean intakes, only small microscopic organisms will get pulled in. This facility coming back online will use about 30 percent energy that it used in the `90s, when it was built.

我們在采用最先進(jìn)的觸摸屏開放海水吸附法( screen open ocean intakes)，只有很小的生物會被吸入。這套設(shè)備在90年代建成，在它重新使用時(shí)，其耗能量約為當(dāng)時(shí)的30%。

JAY FAMIGLIETTI, SENIOR WATER SCIENTIST, NASA: When we start looking 20, 30, 40 years from now, desal will probably more widespread than it is right now. It`s a tried and true technology.

杰伊·費(fèi)明力提：資深水資源科學(xué)家，NASA：當(dāng)我們從現(xiàn)在看以后的20、30、40年，海水淡化可能會比現(xiàn)在應(yīng)用更為廣泛。這是一項(xiàng)需要嘗試、真正的技術(shù)。