Drinking wastewater? The idea may sound distasteful, but new federally funded research says more Americans are doing so—whether

admin2013-02-02  19

问题     Drinking wastewater? The idea may sound distasteful, but new federally funded research says more Americans are doing so—whether they know or not—and this reuse will be increasingly necessary as the U.S. population expands.
    Treated wastewater poses no greater health risks than existing water supplies and, in some cases, may be even safer to drink, according to a report released by the National Research Council. "We believe water reuse is an option to deal with growing water scarcity, especially in coastal areas," says Jorg Drewes, an engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines. "This can be done reliably without putting the public at risk," he says, citing technological advances. He says it’ s a waste not to reuse the nation’ s wastewater, because almost all of it is treated before discharge. This water includes storm runoff(径流) as well as used water from homes, businesses and factories.
    In many places, the report says, the public does not realize it’ s drinking water that was treated after being discharged as wastewater somewhere upstream: For example, wastewater discharged into the Trinity River from Dallas/Fort Worth flows south into Lake Livingston, the source for Houston’ s drinking water.
    Despite the growing importance of this reuse, the report says there’ s no systemic analysis of its extent nationwide since a 1980 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Alan Roberson of the American Water Works Association says wastewater reuse is common, so the council’ s report is important but not surprising. Roberson expects this recycling will continue to increase , especially for irrigation and industrial needs. He says it will take longer to establish potable (适于饮用的) uses because of public nervousness about drinking wastewater, however treated.
    "We have to do something to address water scarcity," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at the non-profit Environmental Working Group. "Less than 10% of potable water is used for drinking, cooking, showering or dishwashing. We flush it down the toilet, literally." Technologies exist to safely treat the water, she says, although some are expensive.
    The report says water reuse projects tend to cost more than most water conservation options but less than seawater desalination (脱盐) and other supply alternatives. It calls on the EPA to develop rules that set safe national standards.
As can be learned from Paragraph 1, drinking wastewater_____.

选项 A、is to become a growing necessity
B、is well received by the Americans
C、has caused heated public debates
D、has become the dominant option

答案A

解析 本题问的是从第一段中我们了解到有关饮用废水的什么信息。根据题干内容可以定位到第一段,该段中,联邦政府资助的一项最新研究表明,随着美国人口的增加,更多的美国人正在这么做——不管是否知道这种重新使用的办法将变得非常有必要。据此可知A项“变成不断增加的一种需要”为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/EJOjFFFM
0

最新回复(0)