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Robert Hirsch says U.S. doing more with less water

EarthSky

Today we’re speaking with Robert Hirsch, a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS. Dr. Hirsch spoke of a new USGS report that’s the most comprehensive on American water use, to date. The study analyzed data from 2005 to figure out how much water we use in America today.

今天节目的嘉宾是美国地质勘探局水文专家罗伯特·赫希。他带来了地质勘探局发布的一项新报告。这也是时下描述美国用水状况最为详尽的研究报告。

Robert Hirsch: Water use has been very constant for about the last 30 years. We use about 410 billion gallons per day for the nation as a whole.

罗伯特·赫希：近30年来美国居民用水量比较稳定。全国每天耗水量为4100亿加仑。

The USGS then compared the new report’s findings with past data, and found that Americans have done more with less water since 1975. Water use, per person, is down about 30 percent. Hirsch said this can be attributed, in part, to advances in agriculture and energy. That’s because most of the water an average American uses – up to 80 percent – goes into producing food and electricity. Hirsch talked more about the efficient use of water at power plants.

地质勘测局将新研究成果与以前的数据进行对比后发现，自1975年来，美国人已在使用更少的水做更多的事情。人均用水量下降了30%。赫希认为其部分原因在于农业进步和能源技术的发展。由于普通居民将绝大部分供水（80%以上）用于灌溉和供电，随着农业的进步和能源技术的发展，人均用水量自然降了下来。赫希谈到了更多关于电厂节水的情况。

Robert Hirsch : Rather than just taking it out of a river, running it through the plant and discharging it, now they’re taking much smaller quantities and recycling them through cooling towers and cooling ponds. And that really decreases the overall environmental effect.

罗伯特·赫希：以前电厂从河里汲水后，使河水在厂内的机器、管道中流通一番就简单地将废水排放出去，现在它们不仅需要的水量少了，还通过冷却塔和凉水池进行废水回收。这些做法有效减少了废水对环境的影响。

Our thanks to the US Geological Survey, celebrating the International Year of Planet Earth.

感谢地质勘探局为本期节目提供相关资料，美国地质勘测局是联合国国际地球年的合作伙伴。

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