本集内容

Updating London's Victorian sewage system 升级改造伦敦维多利亚时代的排水系统

文字稿

This is London, but it's a story repeated across the United Kingdom. An ageing sewage network, regularly spilling its pungent load.

这里是伦敦，但此处的现象在英国各地不断上演。一个老化的排水网络，经常溢出刺鼻的污水。

But deep beneath the river, the clean-up plan is nearly ready to flow – a five-billion-pound tunnel, the largest and deepest the capital has ever seen.

但在泰晤士河深处，一项清理计划已经准备就绪：一条耗资50亿英镑的隧道将是首都伦敦有史以来最长最深的隧道。

Jonah Fisher, BBC reporter
The reason we're riding on bikes through this tunnel is because it's just so big. It's 15 miles long, all the way across London under the River Thames. The idea behind it is, well, that it will collect the sewage and storm water that at the moment goes into the river, and take it downhill to east London, where it can be processed properly.

乔纳·费舍尔       BBC通讯员
“我们之所以骑自行车穿过这条隧道是因为它很长。长15英里，在泰晤士河下方穿过伦敦。修建该隧道背后的理念是：这条隧道将收集目前直接排入泰晤士河的污水和雨水，将污水向下游输送至伦敦东部，在那里可以对污水进行妥善的处理。”

We're shown one of the 34 sewage overflow pipes that are being diverted to join the tunnel, rather than flowing into the Thames.

我们看到了34条污水溢流管道中的一条，这些溢流管道会与主隧道合流，而不是将污水直接排入泰晤士河。

The tunnel can hold enough sewage to fill 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools but in the future, that still might not be enough, with climate change expected to bring more heavy rain.

这条隧道可容纳的污水量可以填满600个奥运会标准的游泳池，但未来可能还是不够，因为预计气候变化会带来更多的暴雨。

Andy Mitchell, CEO, Tideway Tunnel
“The point here is that the solution for London going forward is to do something better with the rainwater than simply throw it in the sewers in the first place.”

安迪·米切尔       泰晤士潮路隧道（Tideway Tunnel）首席执行官
“修建隧道的意义在于伦敦未来的排水解决方案是更好地处理雨水，而不是一开始就把雨水排入隧道。”

Not far upstream, what we throw down the loo is actually changing the course of the river.

在泰晤士河上游不远处，伦敦居民丢入厕所的污物被排入河流，堆积起来后导致泰晤士河的流向发生改变。

Chris Coode, Deputy CEO, Thames21
“So this is what we refer to as a wet wipe reef.”

克里斯·库德       泰晤士河21（Thames21）副首席执行官
“这就是我们所说的 ‘湿纸巾礁’。”

A mass of wet wipes and sanitary products now jut out into the river at several points.

大量的湿纸巾和卫生用品现在会从几处被排入泰晤士河。

Chris Coode, Deputy CEO, Thames21
“What look like leaves are wipes. The best case scenario for us is that the tunnel reduces or even stops new material coming to a reef like this and over time, when we start clearing the material, the reef will shrink.”

克里斯·库德       泰晤士河21（Thames21）副首席执行官
“这些看上去像树叶的东西是湿纸巾。对我们来说最好的情况是新隧道会减少甚至阻止新排入的污物以这种方式堆积在 ‘湿纸巾礁’ 上，这样随着时间的推移，当我们开始清理这些污物时，‘湿纸巾礁’ 才会变小。”

After years of abuse, just maybe the tide has turned.

经受了多年的摧残后，泰晤士河的命运终于迎来了转机。