美国国家公共电台 NPR As West Grows, Water Use Declines Thanks To Better Toilets

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Something unexpected is happening in the West's biggest cities. Population is booming, but water use is staying the same or in some cases, actually going down. From member station KUNC, Luke Runyon reports on what to credit for all that savings¹.

LUKE RUNYON, BYLINE²: Theresa MacFarland, her husband and two kids live in an historic two-story home in Longmont, Colo., just outside Boulder³. It has all the vintage touches - hardwood floors, big windows, wood detailing, and one really old toilet. MacFarland points it out to her four-year-old daughter Althea.

THERESA MACFARLAND: That toilet has been there longer than Daddy and I have been alive.

NEKA SUNLIN: Yeah.

MACFARLAND: Probably longer than Grandma and Grandpa have been alive.

SUNLIN: (Laughter).

RUNYON: A little stamp on the bowl says it was built in the 1950s. Lately, it's had some trouble getting the job done. And that's why MacFarland contacted a local conservation group called Resource Central to find a more water-friendly model. Neka Sunlin oversees⁴ the group's Flush for the Future program and helped install McFarland's new toilet.

SUNLIN: We guesstimate this one's using about five gallons a flush. The new one uses less than one.

MACFARLAND: It's amazing.

SUNLIN: It's 0.8 gallons per flush. So you're going to be saving probably four gallons of water per flush.

RUNYON: In an average month, a toilet uses more water than any other fixture⁵ in a home - more than your washing machine, your occasional long shower and way more than your dishwasher. People flush between five and eight times a day. Since the 1990s, people have been replacing a lot of toilets throughout the country. Back then, Congress created national standards for water use. They mandated⁶ toilets use only about one and a half gallons for each flush. For the plumbing⁷ industry, it was a huge deal.

PETE DEMARCO: Watershed⁸ moment - no pun intended.

RUNYON: One of the people who helped write the low-flush rules was Pete DeMarco. He's with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.

DEMARCO: And it wasn't just toilets where flows were being reduced, but showerheads, kitchen faucets⁹, lavatory¹⁰ faucets and urinals were also being regulated.

RUNYON: DeMarco says this is a big reason why cities have been able to grow and still keep their water use in check. Indoor use dropped 22 percent nationwide between 1999 and 2016 - much of that due to just swapping¹¹ out old fixtures¹². And recently, states with water scarcity¹³ problems have passed even tighter regulations.

DREW BECKWITH: And so you, basically, have these high-efficiency toilets now, as a matter of course. You cannot go out in the store in Colorado or California and buy an old toilet.

RUNYON: Drew Beckwith is a water policy expert who works in suburban¹⁴ Denver. He says conservationists have been a victim of their own success. With national standards in place, there's not much more people can do to limit water use inside homes.

BECKWITH: We've sort of done our business with respect to toilets. And it's time to, you know, maybe get off the pot and move on to outdoor water use, which is more - I see - the focus of urban water efficiency today.

RUNYON: Back at the MacFarland home outside Boulder, the brand new toilet is hooked up.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOILET RESERVOIR FILLING)

RUNYON: And water is filling the tank. The honor of first flush goes to Theresa MacFarland's daughter Althea.

MACFARLAND: Check it out - there's this blue button. (Unintelligible). Give it a shot.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOILET FLUSHING)

RUNYON: Didn't think we'd get through this whole story without hearing at least one flush, right? For NPR News, I'm Luke Runyon in Longmont, Colo.

1 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

4 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

5 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

6 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

7 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

9 faucets   

n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Water faucets shall be chrome-plated type with ball valve. 水龙头外表为铬镀层。 来自互联网
• The plumber came that afternoon and fixed the faucets in some minutes. 当天下午，管子工来了，几分钟内便把水龙头安装好。 来自互联网

10 lavatory   

n.盥洗室，厕所

参考例句：

• Is there any lavatory in this building?这座楼里有厕所吗？
• The use of the lavatory has been suspended during take-off.在飞机起飞期间，盥洗室暂停使用。

11 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。

12 fixtures   

（房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动

参考例句：

• The insurance policy covers the building and any fixtures contained therein. 保险单为这座大楼及其中所有的设施保了险。
• The fixtures had already been sold and the sum divided. 固定设备已经卖了，钱也分了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

14 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。