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On a one-acre site alongside a string of shrimp boats docked (1) on the Brownsville ship channel stands a $2.2 million assembly of pipes, sheds (2), and humming machinery — Texas' entree into global efforts to make sea water suitable to drink.
The plant (3) is a pilot project for the state's $150 million, full-scale sea water desalination (4) plant slated for construction in 2010.
Desalting sea water is expensive, mostly because of the energy required. Current cost estimates run at about $650 per acre foot, as opposed to $200 for purifying the same amount of fresh water.
However, it is a growing field around the world as governments and private investors ante up (5) where water drinkable needs are crucial.
About two-thirds of the world's desalinated water is produced in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and North Africa. Perth, Australia, is looking to meet a third of its fresh water demand by removing salt from sea water.
In March, Israel showed off its plant at the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon that can process 87 million gallons of water a day. Singapore opened a sea water desalination plant in 2005 hoping it will meet at least 10 percent of its water needs. Two months ago, General Electric Co. announced a $220 million contract to build a plant in South Africa.
Global output is still relatively minute (6) — less than 0.1 percent of all drinking water. But according to a recent report by Global Water Intelligence, the worldwide desalination industry is expected to grow 140 percent over the next decade, with $25 billion in capital investment by 2010, or $56 billion by 2015.
1. dock ： 靠码头, 引入坞
2. shed ：小屋, 工棚, 货棚
3. plant ：设备
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就在停靠在布朗斯维尔码头的一连串捕虾船旁的一英亩地上，挺立着一套价值两百二十万美元，由管道、工棚和嗡鸣的机器组成的工作系统。德克萨斯正在加入全球的行列，把海水转变为可饮用的水。
这套设备是一项测试项目，建造的目的是为了该州能够在2010年建成一套价值15亿美元的全面的海水淡化系统。
大多因为能源方面的要求，海水的淡化是很昂贵的。目前的估算是每英亩英尺650美元，而净化同量的淡水只需要200美元。
但是，就全球范围来说，这个领域正在不断的成长壮大，因为各国政府和私人投资者在那些急需可饮用水的地方投入了不少资本。
全球大约三分之二的淡化海水产自于沙特阿拉伯、科威特以及北非。澳大利亚的佩斯正在利用淡化海水以满足三分之一的淡水需求。
就在三月份，以色列向全世界展示了其位于地中海港口阿什克农的一套海水淡化系统。这套系统每天可以处理8700万加仑的海水。2005年，新加坡也开始使用一套淡化海水的设备，以能满足至少10%的淡水需要。两个月前，通用电气公司宣布了一份合同，计划在南非建造这样一套价值2.2亿美元的设备。
全球淡化海水的产量相对甚小，还不到可饮用水总量的0.1%。但根据国际水务情报局的一项近期报道，全球的海水淡化行业将在未来的10年内增长140%，到2010年累计有25亿美元的投资，到2015年投资增长至56亿美元。
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| 中国国际广播电台 译 |
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4. desalination ：减少盐分，脱盐
5. ante up ：付账, 付钱
6. minute ：微小的
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