[by:可可英语网～www.utensil-race.com]
[00:00:01]Sewers are a marvel. 
下水道堪称奇迹。
[00:01:38]They allow us to live close together without cities turning into smelly, disease-spreading swamps.
因为它，人们过上亲密的群居生活的同时，不至于把城市搞得臭气熏天、疾病泛滥。
[00:06:54]In a sewer's anaerobic conditions, common sulfate compounds are reduced by bacteria to hydrogen sulfide—the source of that rotten egg smell. 
在下水道缺氧的情况下，细菌会将常见硫酸化合物分解，使其转化为硫化氢——这便是臭鸡蛋气味的来源。
[00:14:17]And hydrogen sulfide when exposed to air forms sulfuric acid. 
当硫化氢暴露在空气中时，会形成硫酸，
[00:18:12]Which eats away at concrete. The result: crumbling sewers.
硫酸有侵蚀混泥土的作用，使得下水道破碎不堪。
[00:21:58]The response has been to try to remove sulfide from sewage water. 
一直以来，人们都在试图将硫化物从污水中分离出来。
[00:25:11]But researchers in Australia asked a different question: where does the original sulfate come from?
然而，澳大利亚研究人员却转化了思路：这些硫化物来自哪里？
[00:30:02]Turns out much of it is from drinking water treatment. 
调查结果显示，大部分的硫化物都产生于饮用水的处理。
[00:32:35]Aluminum sulfate is added at most Australian drinking water plants tested to coagulate solids out of the dirty water. 
在澳大利亚的饮用水工厂中的污水里加入硫酸铝进行检测，结果显示绝大多数的饮用水工厂里的污水都出现了凝结颗粒。
[00:39:43]That process is the source of more than half the resulting sulfates in the sewage. 
污水中大部分的硫化物均来自这一处理过程。
[00:43:45]Numbers are similar in the U.S.
美国也出现类似的调查数据。
[00:45:44]The scientists say that by switching to nonsulfate-based coagulants,  
科学家说，如果用不含硫酸盐的凝结剂取代含硫酸盐的凝结剂的话，
[00:48:18]governments worldwide could save a billion dollars a year in sewer repair costs.
每年，世界各国政府便能在下水道的维修费用中省下十亿美元。
[00:53:25]The research is in the journal Science. 
该项研究在《科学》杂志中发表。
[00:55:21]Today, drinking water is managed separately from sewage treatment. 
如今，饮用水管理和污水处理是分开进行的。
[00:58:55]A related editorial calls for a holistic approach to water management that looks at the entire water cycle, 
相关社论呼吁：需从水循环着手对水进行全面管理，
[01:04:12]and helps save sewers in the process.
同时也要注意保护下水道。