Most human activities produce wastewater and over 80 percent of the world's wastewater is released to the environment without treatment. This cannot go on – this is the message of the 2017 United Nations World Water Development Report. Limiting the discharge of untreated wastewater into nature not only saves lives and strengthens healthy ecosystems – it can help advance sustainable growth.
大部分人类活动都会产生废水，世界上超过80%的废水未经处理就排入环境之中。这种情况不能再持续下去了——这就是 2017年《联合国世界水资源开发报告》的讯息。限制未处理废水排入自然界，不仅可以拯救生命，强化健康的生态系统，还有助于推进可持续增长。
Access to safe water and sanitation services is essential to the human rights and dignity, and the survival, of women and men across the world, especially the most disadvantaged. This is vital for progress across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – water links all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their interconnected targets.
获得安全用水和卫生服务，对世界各地人民尤其是最弱势群体的人权和尊严甚至生存都至关重要。这对全面推进《2030年可持续发展议程》起着关键作用，因为全部17项可持续发展目标及其相互关联的具体目标都与水有关。
In the face of growing demand, wastewater can be a reliable alternative source of water – this calls for shifting the paradigm of wastewater management from 'treatment and disposal' to 'reduce, reuse, recycle and resource recovery'. Wastewater should no longer be seen as a problem, but as part of the solution to challenges that all societies are facing. Treated wastewater can be a cost-efficient, sustainable, safe and reliable alternative source of water for a variety of purposes – from irrigation and industrial uses to drinking water, particularly under conditions of water scarcity. For this, we need to change mind-sets, to raise awareness and redouble educational efforts to share the benefits of wastewater reuse.
面对日益增长的需求，废水可以成为可靠的替代性水源，而这需要将废水管理模式从“处理和处置”转变为“减少、再利用、再循环和资源回收”。废水不应再被视为一个问题，而应成为应对各社会所面临挑战的解决方案的一部分。废水经过处理后可以是一种成本效益高、可持续、安全可靠的替代性水源，它用途广泛：从灌溉和工业用途到饮用水，特别是在缺水条件下。为此，我们必须转变思维，提高意识，加强教育，分享废水再利用的成果。
We need to see improved wastewater management at the heart of a circular economy, balancing development with the protection and sustainable use of natural resources. The benefits are wide-ranging, with implications on food and energy security and in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
我们必须将更好的废水管理置放于循环经济的核心地位，在发展与保护并可持续使用自然资源之间取得平衡。这样做益处甚广，尤其有助于保障粮食和能源安全，缓解气候变化的影响。
As the United Nations agency for water sciences and education, UNESCO is working across the board to these ends, starting with the International Hydrological Programme and its network of National Committees, Centres and Chairs. Our World Water Assessment Programme provides Governments and the international community with cutting-edge and policy-relevant information on freshwater resources worldwide, pioneering also new techniques in gender-sensitive water monitoring. All of this is vital for the success of the 2030 Agenda.
作为负责水科学和教育的联合国机构，从国际水文计划及其国家委员会网络、中心和教席开始，教科文组织正为实现上述目标作出全面努力。我们的世界水资源评估计划，为各国政府和国际社会提供全世界淡水资源方面的前沿性和政策性信息，并在注重性别平等的水资源监测新技术方面开展着开拓性工作。这一切都对成功实现《2030年议程》至关重要。
At a time when demand is growing and limited resources are increasingly stressed by over-abstraction, pollution and climate change, we simply must not neglect the opportunities from improved wastewater management. We cannot afford to waste wastewater – this is UNESCO's message today.
在需求增长，有限的资源因过度开发、污染和气候变化而日益紧张的时候，我们绝不应忽视改善废水管理带来的机遇。废水不能浪费，这就是教科文组织今天要传递的讯息。