How Switzerland Cleaned Up Its Water瑞士如何凈化水質

In the first days of spring， people flock to Lake Geneva’s tree-lined promenade1， their faces tilted towards the sun. Dior， Cartier and Rolex are among the high-end shopfronts2 overlooking the water.

春日伊始，人們紛紛涌向日內瓦湖畔綠樹成蔭的步道，仰頭沐浴陽光。迪奧、卡地亞和勞力士等高端品牌店臨水而立。

Rene Rottenberg， 75， has just finished his 400m swim—a ritual3 he repeats up to five times a week， even in midwinter. For the retired gynaecologist4， being able to swim in the crystal-clear water is the greatest luxury. “It’s just so fun，” he says. “The place is beautiful.”

75歲的勒內·羅滕伯格剛完成400米游泳——這是他雷打不動、每周多達五次的活動，即便仲冬時節也不例外。對于這位退休婦科醫生來說，能在清澈的湖水中暢游是難得的莫大享受。他表示：“太開心啦。這地方美極了?！?/p>

Rottenberg is a member of Les Givres5 swimming club in the centre of the city. Dentists， secretaries， judges， teachers and retirees all brave the 8C water in their lunch break， emerging red and blotchy6 with cold. “You find everyone here，” says Rottenberg. They have lunch together before being swallowed back into the city.

羅滕伯格是位于市中心的凌霜游泳俱樂部的會員。每到午休時分，牙醫、秘書、法官、教師和退休人員等各路會員不顧寒冷，躍入8攝氏度的水中，出水時凍得皮膚通紅斑駁?！斑@里有形形色色的人。”羅滕伯格說。他們共進午餐后，便又隱沒于都市洪流之中。

The sight of people launching themselves into an inner-city waterway would be unthinkable in most cities in Europe， the US and many other parts of the world.

在歐美乃至全球其他許多地方的大多數城市，人們躍入市中心河道這一情景是不可思議的。

Three-quarters of Britain’s rivers are in poor ecological health， according to data collected by thousands of citizen scientists in 2024， with experts describing the findings as “truly disturbing”. Pollution from water companies and agricultural runoff are driving the contamination， which affects all parts of the country， causing toxic algal blooms， mass die-offs of fish， and risks to human health.

2024年數千名公民科學家收集的數據顯示，英國3/4的河流生態狀況不佳，專家稱這一發現“著實令人不安”。水務公司排污和農業徑流加劇污染，影響英國各地，導致毒藻蔓生、魚類大量死亡，并危及人類健康。

Yet across Switzerland， such swimming scenes are normal. This hasn’t always been the case. In the 1960s， Switzerland had among the dirtiest water in Europe， blighted7 by mats of algae， mountains of foam， scum8， and dead fish at the surface. For decades， swimming was banned in some rivers such as the Aare and Limmat on health grounds， and people could get ill if they swallowed the water.

在瑞士全境，這樣的游泳場景卻很尋常。但情況并非一向如此。1960年代，瑞士水質在歐洲位居最臟之列，深受水面飄浮的叢生藻類、成堆泡沫、浮渣和死魚之害。數十年來，出于健康考慮，阿勒河和利馬特河等河流禁止游泳，人若誤吞河水可能會生病。

Raw sewage and industrial wastewater flowed directly into water bodies—in 1965 only 14% of the population was connected to a wastewater treatment plant. Today， it is 98%， and the country has a reputation for pristine swimming waters， sometimes referred to as its “blue gold”—and it’s all thanks to a complex network of sewage plants.

未經處理的污水和工業廢水直接排入水體——1965年，僅14%人口的生活污水排入污水處理廠。如今，這一比例已達98%，瑞士也以水質純凈的游泳水域著稱，這些水域有時被譽為瑞士的“蔚藍流金”——這得益于繁密的污水處理廠網絡。

A key driver of that transformation was a tragedy in the mountain resort of Zermatt in 1963， when a typhoid9 outbreak killed three people and made 437 others ill. Soldiers were deployed and schools turned into emergency hospitals as panic spread. Pressure grew on the government to clean up the waterways， found to be the source of the outbreak. In 1971， the treatment of wastewater was written into Swiss law.

推動這一轉變的主因是1963年采爾馬特山度假區發生的災難，當時傷寒疫情暴發造成3人病亡、437人染病。隨著恐慌蔓延，軍隊進駐，學校被改建成應急醫院。經查水道是疫情暴發源頭，因而要求政府清理水道的壓力越來越大。1971年，污水處理被寫入瑞士法律。

Now Switzerland has some of the cleanest rivers in Europe. According to 2023 data from the European Environment Agency， just five of the country’s 196 bathing areas were rated as poor quality. Politicians across the spectrum agree on the need to prioritise clean water.

如今，瑞士有若干河流躋身于歐洲最潔凈河流之列。歐洲環境署2023年的數據顯示，瑞士的196個游泳水域中只有5處水質評級欠佳。該國各黨派政要一致認為必須優先保障水質潔凈。

“Very high water quality is important to the population，” says Michael Mattle， head of wastewater technology at the engineering company Holinger. “We take a lot of care not to pollute water on its way through Switzerland.”

“水質優良對民眾至關重要。”工程公司霍林格的廢水處理技術主管邁克爾·馬特爾說，“我們高度謹慎，力求避免水體流經瑞士時遭受污染?！?/p>

And they pay for it： the government spent an average of ￡174 a person on wastewater treatment in 2022， compared with about ￡90 a person in England and Wales in the 2022–23 financial year， according to analysis by Ends10 Report.

他們也為此付出了代價：據《環境數據服務報告》分析，2022年，瑞士政府用于污水處理的人均支出為174英鎊，而英格蘭和威爾士在2022—2023財年的人均支出約為90英鎊。

Now， Switzerland is leading the world in purifying its water of micropollutants： a concoction11 of chemicals often found in bodies of water that look crystal clear. They include antidepressants12， antibiotics13， diabetes14 treatments and anti-inflammatories15， which have unknown and potentially damaging consequences for human and ecosystem health.

瑞士當前在凈化水中微污染物方面處于世界領先水平。此類微污染物是看似清澈的水體中常見的化學物質混合物，包括抗抑郁藥、抗生素、糖尿病治療藥物和消炎藥，對人類和生態系統健康具有未知危害。

In 2016， Switzerland became the first country to enforce legislation to clean up drugs and chemicals that collect in waterways. This work is based on a precautionary principle—if something has unknown effects， err on the side of caution16. “It’s just a matter of time17 before they cause problems，” says Mattle.

2016年，瑞士率先在國內正式施行法律治理河道內積聚的藥物和化學物質。這項工作基于預防原則——對具有未知影響的物質采取謹慎態度?！斑@類物質遲早會造成問題?！瘪R特爾說。

Conventional sewage treatment works are designed to deal with organic waste but are less effective with chemicals， hence plants across Switzerland are getting an upgrade.

常規污水處理廠旨在處理有機廢物，但對化學物質的處理效果較差，因此瑞士各地的污水處理廠都在升級。

A 20-minute bus ride from the lake is the Villette wastewater treatment plant， Geneva’s first to treat micropollutants. It filters through 250 litres of water every second. First it filters out rubbish， food， money—anything people might flush down their toilets （a study found $1.8m （￡1.4m） worth of gold flows through Swiss sewers every year）. Then fat and sand are removed before the water is treated in huge basins of bacteria that removes organic matter.

從日內瓦湖乘公共汽車20分鐘即可抵達維萊特污水處理廠。這是日內瓦首個處理微污染物的污水處理廠，每秒過濾250升水。首先濾除垃圾、食物、錢幣等——人們可能沖入馬桶的任何東西［研究發現，每年有價值180萬美元（約合140萬英鎊）的黃金流經瑞士的下水道］。然后去除油脂和沙礫，繼而在巨型細菌分解池中處理污水以去除有機物。

“It works like your stomach，” says Frederic Galley of Services Industriels de Geneve （SIG）， which manages the plant. Then the water is passed through activated charcoal， which acts like a sponge， absorbing the microchemicals.

“它就像你的胃一樣運作?！惫芾碓搹S的日內瓦工業服務公司的弗雷德里克·加萊解釋道。隨后污水流經活性炭，活性炭會如海綿般吸附微量化學物質。

Each year， the Swiss are adding micropollutant treatment facilities to seven sewage plants， and now have a total of 37. By 2040， there will be about 140， according to unpublished data from the Swiss Water Association （VSA）. “Many people don’t know the multitude of operations we have here， and how we do it” says Galley. “All our actions that we carry out， we do for the sake of the community.”

瑞士每年為7座污水處理廠增配微污染物處理設施，目前共有37座污水處理廠已配置此類設施。根據瑞士水務協會的未公布數據，到2040年將增至140座左右。“很多人不知道我們這里運作工序繁雜，也不了解我們的運作方式?！奔尤R說，“我們的一切行動都是為了造福社會?！?/p>

Before 2016， a series of pilots found removing 80% of pollutants was the maximum amount achievable for a reasonable cost. Within the 20% of chemicals not removed are PFAs， also known as forever chemicals. Mattle says： “The endgame18 is to get these substances prohibited.”

2016年前一系列試點發現，以合理成本最多可清除80%的污染物。未能清除的20%的化學物質包含全氟和多氟烷基物質，又稱永久性化學物質。馬特爾說：“終極目標是禁絕此類物質?！?/p>

Wastewater experts from France， Italy and Belgium， among others， have visited the plant to see what lessons in micropollutant treatment they could take home. In response to Switzerland’s work， the EU requires wastewater treatment plants serving more than 10，000 people to be able to remove micropollutants by 2045. “They want to go very fast，” says Mattle.

法國、意大利和比利時等國的廢水處理專家已參觀該廠，了解可借鑒的微污染物處理經驗。為響應瑞士所開展的工作，歐盟要求，服務人口過萬人的污水處理廠到2045年必須具備清除微污染物的能力?！八麄兿Ｍ焖偻七M?！瘪R特爾說。

There are no plans in the UK to do the same， despite high levels of antibiotics and other drugs being found in waters on some of the most protected national landscapes.

英國雖在一些最嚴密保護的國家級景觀水域中檢出高濃度的抗生素等藥物，卻無類似行動計劃。

People are not aware of how much work was necessary to purify Switzerland’s water， but they consider it important， says Mattle. “I think Swiss people are proud of their water，” he says.

馬特爾說，人們雖不清楚凈化瑞士水質要付出多大努力，但都認為這項工作重要?！跋氡厝鹗咳硕紴槠渌|好感到自豪?！彼f。

On Lake Geneva， it is not just swimmers benefiting from the inviting waters： people read， share beers with friends， children jump between rocks.

在日內瓦湖這片迷人水域，享受其恩澤的不只是游泳者：有人閱讀，與好友把酒言歡，還有孩子們在礁石間跳躍嬉戲。

“We are united by a love of water，” says Pascal Baudin， another member of Le Givres swimming club. The retiree comes every day， and says the swimming group has become an even more important social connection after he stopped working. “If you don’t have friends， if you don’t have a social life， you lock yourself in your house and you get depressed. Here is the ideal medicine—cold water and friends，” he says.

“對水的熱愛將我們聯結在一起。”凌霜游泳俱樂部另一會員帕斯卡爾·博丹說。這位每日必到的退休者表示，退休后，游泳俱樂部成為對他越發重要的社交紐帶?！耙菦]有朋友，沒有社交生活，你就會把自己關在家里，變得抑郁。這里有靈丹妙藥——冷水和朋友?！彼f。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 promenade濱水步道。" 2 shopfront店面，店鋪。" 3 ritual例行公事，習慣。" 4 gyn-aecologist婦科醫生。" 5 〈法語〉義為“霜凍”。" 6 blotchy有污斑的。

7 blight損害，妨害。" 8 scum浮渣，浮沫。

9 typhoid傷寒。

10 = Environmental News and Data Services。" 11 concoction混合物，調合物。" 12 antide-pressant抗抑郁藥。" 13 antibiotic抗生素。" 14 diabetes糖尿病。" 15 anti-inflammatory消炎藥。" 16 err on the side of caution寧可過于謹慎也不要冒風險。" 17 a matter of time遲早的事。

18 endgame終局，結束階段。