VOA标准英语2010年-Desalinated Water Flows as Sydney Seek

One of the world's biggest water desalination¹ plants is about to open in Australia's biggest and thirstiest city, Sydney. The plant is part of a program aimed at providing water as the continent battles erratic² rainfall and the city attracts 50,000 new residents a year.

The new $1.7 billion desalination plant is part of an effort to drought-proof Sydney, as concerns grow about a changing climate and erratic rainfall patterns.
 
Kristina Keneally, the premier³ of New South Wales, says the new facility is essential to provide water to the state's capital.
 
"Now, it's a great pleasure to be standing⁴ here inside Sydney's desalination plant. Now, this is about preparing for Sydney's expanding population. It is guaranteeing that we have a safe and a secure drinking water supply. In the face of climate change, in the face of increasing drought it is important we are securing Sydney's water supply," said Keneally.
 
Much of the Australian continent is arid⁵, so its cities often face water shortages. And, as in many countries in Asia and the Middle East, Australian officials increasingly are looking toward desalinated ocean water as a way to meet increasing needs.

The Sydney plant can pump 250 megaliters of water each day, about 15 percent of the city's needs.
 
But it is not cheap: the water costs twice as much as traditional supplies from reservoirs.
 
But Kerry Schott, the managing director of the Sydney Water Corporation, says it is worth the price.
 
"The cost justification⁶ really rests on the fact that you don't want a city running out of water. We have historically had cities run out of water and they have been abandoned and that can happen in inland Australia also and we certainly don't want it happening in a major city like Sydney," said Schott.
 
The plant pulls water from Botany Bay through a large tunnel. The water is then pushed at high pressure through tiny membranes⁷, which capture the salt, in a process called reverse osmosis.
 
Critics, though, consider the plant a waste of money. They say Sydney has no water crisis because consumers have learned to use far less and the big reservoirs will guarantee supplies for at least the next decade.
 
"Sydney's desalination plant should never have been. It was a huge mistake. The then-premier panicked at the crucial moment and pushed the go button on the desalination project when it simply wasn't needed," said John Kaye, a Greens party member in the New South Wales state parliament. "Sydney has lots of problems but water is actually the least of them. We as a city have reduced per household our water usage by 25 percent over the last 20 years. … We have lots of opportunities for making ourselves more water efficient."
 
As desalinated supplies flow for the first time in Sydney, residents have mixed feelings about their new processing plant.
 
"Australia really has [a] problem with water and a good supply of water," said a women. "The water is certainly not going to come from the desert, it has got to come from somewhere. So, yeah, if they can make use of the vast amount of seawater that we have got then, you know, it has got to be a good thing."
 
"Well, I think it is a waste of money. It has cost $1 billion or a couple of billion dollars to make it when you have got massive dams that are half full," said a man.
 
Water bills will rise by 40 percent over the next four years to pay for the plant.
 
Sydney Water says the facility will run non-stop for two years. After that, it will be used only when reservoir levels fall below 70 percent of capacity.
 
Across the continent, authorities in Western Australia are forging ahead with plans to open a second desalination plant near the state capital, Perth.

 

1 desalination   

n.脱盐(作用)

参考例句：

• Crops can be grown on this land after desalination. 这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
• One source is by desalination-taking the salt out of salt water to make it drinkable. 淡水的来源之一是使水淡化--把含盐的水中的盐份去掉，使之能够饮用。

2 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

3 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

6 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

7 membranes   

n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物

参考例句：

• The waste material is placed in cells with permeable membranes. 废液置于有渗透膜的槽中。 来自辞典例句
• The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a system of intracellular membranes. 肌浆网属于细胞内膜系统。 来自辞典例句