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  3. Drinking wastewater? The idea may sound distasteful, but new federally funded research says more Americans are doing so—whether

Drinking wastewater? The idea may sound distasteful, but new federally funded research says more Americans are doing so—whether

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问题     Drinking wastewater? The idea may sound distasteful, but new federally funded research says more Americans are doing so—whether they know or not—and this reuse will be increasingly necessary as the U.S. population expands.
    Treated wastewater poses no greater health risks than existing water supplies and, in some cases, may be even safer to drink, according to a report released by the National Research Council. "We believe water reuse is an option to deal with growing water scarcity, especially in coastal areas," says Jorg Drewes, an engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines. "This can be done reliably without putting the public at risk," he says, citing technological advances. He says it’ s a waste not to reuse the nation’ s wastewater, because almost all of it is treated before discharge. This water includes storm runoff(径流) as well as used water from homes, businesses and factories.
    In many places, the report says, the public does not realize it’ s drinking water that was treated after being discharged as wastewater somewhere upstream: For example, wastewater discharged into the Trinity River from Dallas/Fort Worth flows south into Lake Livingston, the source for Houston’ s drinking water.
    Despite the growing importance of this reuse, the report says there’ s no systemic analysis of its extent nationwide since a 1980 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Alan Roberson of the American Water Works Association says wastewater reuse is common, so the council’ s report is important but not surprising. Roberson expects this recycling will continue to increase , especially for irrigation and industrial needs. He says it will take longer to establish potable (适于饮用的) uses because of public nervousness about drinking wastewater, however treated.
    "We have to do something to address water scarcity," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at the non-profit Environmental Working Group. "Less than 10% of potable water is used for drinking, cooking, showering or dishwashing. We flush it down the toilet, literally." Technologies exist to safely treat the water, she says, although some are expensive.
    The report says water reuse projects tend to cost more than most water conservation options but less than seawater desalination (脱盐) and other supply alternatives. It calls on the EPA to develop rules that set safe national standards.
What does the report suggest to the EPA?
选项 A、Weighing different water conservation options.
B、Exploring new technologies to treat wastewater.
C、Setting up national standards for water reuse.
D、Monitoring water supplies at a national level.
答案C
解析 本题问的是报告建议美国环保局做些什么。根据题干内容可以定位到最后一段，该段中，呼吁美国环保局制定出国家安全标准的制度。据此可知，C项“建立废水利用的国家标准”为正确答案。
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