CNN News:加州向海水淡化厂求助

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.

加利福尼亚拥有美国最长的海岸线。可能你会问：为什么不直接将海水淡化呢?将海水中的盐分直接去除。

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE：我们会将水资源耗尽。绝对会。

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·克兰：CNN 记者：加利福尼亚正处于历史上最干旱的时期，然而，对淡水的需求只会继续增加。为了满足这一需求，整个州的城市都转向具有争议且价格昂贵的海水淡化技术，将海水淡化成为淡水。

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.

在加利福尼亚现在有15个海水淡化工厂处于准备阶段，其中最大的卡尔巴斯德工厂定于今年11月份开工。一旦开始运作，通过反渗透技术，会过滤掉海水中99.9%的盐分，这样每天会生产5千万加仑的淡水

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：在加利福尼亚最干旱的时期，我们并没有计划将工厂建成，但是它突出了我们正在从事事情的重要性——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.

克兰：但是这样的水源是需要付出代价的。淡化海水的过程需要耗费大量的能量，同时从工厂里生产的水所花费的价钱是传统自来水的两倍。圣地亚哥水务局的水费的鸿沟以后会不在存在。

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，在加州最干旱的时期，投资4千万美元重新启动在90年代修建的工厂。在暴雨结束那场干旱前，该工厂仅仅运作了4个月。

(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.

视频：这里有软盘，键盘上也有按键。投资了3千多万，仅仅使用了4个月，然后就在这里空置了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：海水淡化价格昂贵，但是，如果你看到社会水资源短缺所带来的经济影响，那么将海水淡化应用到社会所需要付出的代价，其实都不是什么大问题了。

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.

克兰：该市称将这套过时的设备进行更新需要花费12到14个月的时间。当这个工厂开始运作，每天会生产3千万加仑的淡水，或该国33的水源。用户每月的账单会增加：约22美元。

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

视频：当然，使用这样技术会有一些我们无法预测的负面的结果。

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：我并不是说海水淡化没有什么负面影响。我认为社会感兴趣的是怎样想办法减轻这些影响。

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.

我们在采用最先进的触摸屏开放海水吸附法( screen open ocean intakes)，只有很小的生物会被吸入。这套设备在90年代建成，在它重新使用时，其耗能量约为当时的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·费明力提：资深水资源科学家，NASA：当我们从现在看以后的20、30、40年，海水淡化可能会比现在应用更为广泛。这是一项需要尝试、真正的技术。