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IF CALIFORNIA were not already so famous forSilicon Valley and Hollywood, it might berenowned for the cluster of water-technologyfirms in its San Diego County. The reverse-osmosis spiral module, the trick thatunderpins turning sea- and waste-water intopotable stuff, was patented in San Diego in 1964.Today dozens of firms in the area supply many ofthe worlds roughly 13,000 RO plants in places fromthe Persian Gulf and Israel to Australia, China,Singapore and Spain. 如果加利福利亚的出名不是因为硅谷和好莱坞，那么圣地亚哥大量的水处理公司也许会让它声名在外。反渗透膜元件1964在圣地亚哥被申请专利，该设备是将海水和废水转化为可饮用水的基础。当今全球约有13000家反渗透厂，它们分布在从波斯湾、以色列到澳大利亚、中国、新加坡和西班牙的地方。而其中的大多数厂商从圣地亚哥的水处理公司引进技术和设备。 Southern California itself, however, has not so far been a big user of its own technology. Thisis surprising, given that the whole American south-west confronts a water problem. But thereis at least now a growing consensus that the existing infrastructure, consisting of vastaqueducts that carry water from the Sacramento Delta in the north and the Colorado River inthe east, will not suffice as the climate gets warmer and the population increases. Inplaces such as San Diego, which has measly and brackish groundwater and currently imports90% of its water, the answer must be greater conservation, as much reuse as possible, withmost of the rest coming from the sea. | 
