[(Title)] We must rationalize water consumption.

Water is essential to life. Allah the Almighty says in the Noble Qur'an:  "We made from water every living thing."  (21:30)

水对生命至关重要。

From the outset, man was keen to find new tools and develop new methods to get and store water because it was very important for his living and survival and still is.

从一开始，人类就渴望找到新工具，开发获取和储存水的新方法，因为这对于生活和生存非常重要，而且仍然如此。

Different civilizations developed various methods to ensure a constant supply of water. The Greeks, for example, were the first to use ceramic pipes to carry water and for drainage.

不同文明发展了各种方法来确保水的持续供应。例如，希腊人是第一个使用陶瓷管道输水和排水的人。

The Indians were the first to dig wells to get water in the Stone Age and they developed a water drainage system. The Romans were the first to dig canals to carry water and build reservoirs.

在石器时代，印第安人第一个挖井取水，他们开发了排水系统。罗马人是第一批挖运河取水和修建水库的人。

During the early Islamic era, more methods were developed to get water and more wells were dug, such as Zubaydah Spring, which was dug at the request of Zubaydah, the wife of Caliph Haroun Al-Rasheed.

在早期伊斯兰时代，制定了更多的取水方法，挖掘了更多的水井，例如Zubaydah Spring，它是在Caliph Haroun Al-Rasheed的妻子Zubaydah的要求下挖掘的。

With regard to the water supply in Jeddah, those who lived here 60 years ago know the importance of water and how difficult it was to get water, especially drinkable water.

关于吉达的供水问题，60年前住在这里的人就知道水的重要性以及获得水，特别是饮用水的难度。

The best quality of water was produced by condensers, the old method of desalination used at the time in Jeddah. It was extremely hard to get this water as it was expensive, and only the well-to-do could afford it.

最好的水是由冷凝器产生的，这是当时在吉达使用的旧的海水淡化方法。 得到这种水是非常困难的，因为它很昂贵，只有富裕的人才能负担得起。

Most Jeddah residents used water tanks built under the house to store rainwater. They used this water for all purposes.

大多数吉达居民使用建在房子里的水箱，储存雨水，他们用这些水做所有的事儿。

The situation changed after late King Abdulaziz ordered that water should be carried from the Wadi Fatima area.

在已故国王阿卜杜拉齐兹命令从瓦迪法蒂马地区运送水后，情况发生了变化。

A project called Al-Ain Al-Aziziyah was implemented and all Jeddah's neighborhoods were able to get water, thanks to water carriers, a group of men who carried water on their shoulders in buckets and delivered it to houses.

一个名为"Al-AinAl-Aziziyah"的项目已经实施，由于人力运水车，吉达的所有社区都能得到水，一群人用桶装水运到房子里。

Another method used to carry water to houses was large barrels placed on carts pulled by donkeys. An average family would need only one or two barrels.

另一种将水运到房屋的方法是将大桶装在由驴车上，平均每个家庭只需一到两桶。

However, when residents started to move from old houses to new villas, water consumption levels increased dramatically.

然而，当居民开始从老房子搬到新别墅时，用水量急剧增加。

Water was carried inside pipes to the new houses and the water tariffs were low because the project was an endowment in the name of King Abdulaziz.

由于该项目是以阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王的名义捐赠的，管道内的水被运往新住房，水费很低。

As the city expanded and the population increased, the water carried from Wadi Fatimah and nearby valleys was not sufficient. The government had to construct giant water desalination stations producing water in large quantities.

随着城市的扩大和人口的增加，从瓦迪·法蒂玛和附近的山谷带走的水是不够的。政府不得不建造巨大的海水淡化站来大量生产水。

Nevertheless, Jeddah and other cities and villages around the Kingdom still suffer from a water shortage because of the lifestyles of some people. These lifestyles should be changed in order for us to conserve water.

尽管如此，吉达和王国周围的其他城市和村庄仍然因一些人的生活方式而缺水。为了节约用水，这些生活方式应该改变。

In general, it can be said that many Saudi households all over the country, Jeddah included, have changed their lifestyle over the past four or five decades.

总体而言，可以说，过去四或五十年来，包括吉达在内的沙特各地的许多家庭都改变了自己的生活方式。

The World Health Organization says a person needs 83 liters of water; however, the average Saudi consumes 256 liters a day, three times the global average.

世界卫生组织说，一个人需要83公升水；然而，沙特的平均每天一人消耗256公升水，是全球平均水平的三倍。

Saudi authorities have used various awareness tools to educate people about the importance of conserving water and consuming less.

沙特当局利用各种提高认识的工具，教育人民了解节水和减少消费的重要性。

The government established the National Water Company (NWC), which increased water consumption tariffs unreasonably; as a result, people complained to the higher authorities and the minister who imposed the high tariff was relieved of his position.

政府成立了国家水务公司（NWC），该公司不合理地增加了水消费关税；因此，人们向上级当局提出申诉，实行高关税的部长被解除其职务。

To date, some people still complain about the way some NWC employees treat them and at the changing amounts of bills and also at the SMS messages sent by the company,

迄今为止，一些人仍然抱怨NWC的一些雇员对待他们的方式，以及账单数量的变化以及该公司发出的SMS信息，

asking people to pay reasonable amounts sometimes and unreasonable amounts at other times without any justification in terms of water consumption.

要求人们有时支付合理的金额，在其他时候支付不合理的金额，而不用提出用水的理由。

We must all rationalize the consumption of water not only in Jeddah, but also Kingdom-wide. Raising the water consumption tariffs could be one of the options that help us achieve lower water consumption levels.

不仅在吉达，而且在整个王国，我们所有人都必须使水的消费量合理化，提高水消费关税可能是有助于我们实现低水消费水平的一种选择。

However, the tariffs should be increased gradually and be commensurate with the level of consumption. The NWC has explained this before and called upon the general public to rationalization water consumption.

然而，关税应该逐步提高，并与消费水平相称。NWC之前已经解释过这一点，并呼吁公众合理用水。

Some property owners have not paid water bills for years because they have not received any bills. Today, they are required to pay a lot of money, which they might find difficult to do.

一些物业业主多年来一直没有支付水费，因为他们没有收到任何账单，今天，他们需要支付很多钱，他们可能觉得很难支付。

Naturally, disputes have arisen between property owners and the water company because the former cannot pay the amounts in arrears all of a sudden and at one go.

自然，业主和水务公司之间出现了争议，因为前者无法一下子付清欠款。

Add to this, the fact that the water network carrying water to properties is old and might leak water underground.

除此之外，水资源管道网络承载水的情况逐步老化，可能会将水泄漏到地下。

— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com