VOA标准英语2014--新型智能马桶在灾区防止水污染

 

New Smart Toilet to Prevent Water Pollution in Disaster Areas 新型智能马桶在灾区防止水污染

WASHINGTON—The destruction of sanitary¹ systems by war or natural disasters can aggravate² the initial tragedy, causing disease and prolonged risk of death among survivors³. Very often after a disaster, survivors dig holes in the ground that serve as makeshift toilets. Pathogens from the human waste can reach sources of water and cause outbreaks of cholera⁴ and other diseases. A United Nations team is now developing a smart toilet for disaster areas, designed to protect the sanitation⁵ chain and prevent water pollution.

The experimental project, called eSOS, is lightweight and runs on solar power. Damir Brdjanovic and his team of scientists at UNESCO's Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands say it is designed to bring disaster relief into the 21st century.

"The eSOS, which stands for Emergency Sanitation Operation System, is a holistic⁶ approach to the emergency sanitation. It involves several components⁷ - eSOS smart toilet, smart transport, and dislodging of each toilet unit, and centralized treatment of feces and urine and the safe disposal of materials, like dry sludge, which is pathogen-free, and the clean water which can be reused further in the system," said Brdjanovic.

The lightweight system is easily transported to disaster zones, but what makes it unique is that it's designed to deal with the entire emergency sanitation chain and minimize the threat to public health.

The eSOS system contains “smart” features, such as an energy supply unit, a GPS sensor⁸, and a monitor that keeps track of waste accumulation. All of this data from the toilet system can be transferred to an emergency co-ordination center so that officials can better determine the needs of an affected⁹ area. It also can re-cycle urine into irrigation water with the help of membrane¹⁰ bio-reactors.

"We can treat all liquid waste, coming from the sludge treatment and from urine, into membrane bio-reactors. It's a novel technology which will treat liquid part to the level that you can even at the end, with some disinfection, have re-use of water for either toilet use or irrigation, horticulture, or any other purpose that you can imagine in a refugee camp," said Brdjanovic.

The toilet is still in the testing phase and will be deployed¹¹ at a camp for disaster victims in the Philippines later this year. Its developers hope this smart disaster relief will save lives and the dignity of refugees.

1 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

2 aggravate   

vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火

参考例句：

• Threats will only aggravate her.恐吓只能激怒她。
• He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing it.他揉擦伤口只会使伤势加重。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

5 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

6 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

7 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

8 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 membrane   

n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸

参考例句：

• A vibrating membrane in the ear helps to convey sounds to the brain.耳膜的振动帮助声音传送到大脑。
• A plastic membrane serves as selective diffusion barrier.一层塑料薄膜起着选择性渗透屏障的作用。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。