来源：比尔盖茨微博
The expression， “I need to take a crap，” originated， at least according to some accounts， with Thomas Crapper， an English plumber and businessman whose name adorned his company’s toilets．
根据一些人的说法，“我要去一下克拉普”（英文为 I need to take a crap， 意为我要去一下厕所）这一表达，来自于英国水管工兼商人托马斯·克拉普（Thomas Crapper），他公司的马桶就印有他的名字。
But I hope that this phrase will soon fall out of common usage．
但我希望这句话能很快从日常用语中消失。
Instead， I look forward to the day when people in search of a restroom say， “I need to take a Yee．”
我期待着有一天，人们在找厕所时会使用取而代之的说法：“我要去一下易”（英文为 I need to take a Yee）。
It would be a great honor for the work Dr． Shannon Yee and his research team have been doing to develop an improved toilet to provide safe sanitation for billions of people around the world．
对于易博士及其研究团队所做的工作而言，这将是一项巨大的荣誉，他们致力于开发一种改良型马桶，为全世界数十亿人提供安全的卫生设施。
More than that， if this expression （which Yee fully supports） catches on， it would be a positive sign that our foundation’s efforts to spark a global sanitation revolution have been a success．
不仅如此，如果这一表达方式流行起来（易博士完全支持），这将是一个积极的信号，表明我们基金会在推动全球卫生设施创新方面的努力取得了成功。
That was the dream a decade ago when our foundation challenged the world to create a toilet that doesn’t rely on sewage systems， doesn’t smell， and won’t cost more than a nickel a day to operate． The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge generated hundreds of new innovations in how to process human waste， including toilets and fecal sludge treatment systems that produce electricity， clean water， and fertilizer．
这是十年前的梦想，当时我们的基金会向全世界发起挑战，以求发明一种不依赖污水处理排水系统、没有难闻的气味、每天运行成本不超过五分钱的厕所。“厕所创新挑战”在如何处理人类排泄物方面带来了数百项创新，包括各种马桶以及可产生电力、清洁水和肥料的粪便污泥处理系统。
Yee， an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology， is now leading a group of researchers and private sector partners to take the best of these ideas and package them into a new， low-cost toilet—the Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet （G2RT）—to provide safe， affordable sanitation for the world．
易博士是佐治亚理工学院机械工程系的副教授，目前他正带领一个研究团队，和私营部门的合作伙伴一起，充分利用这些创新想法，将之整合打造出被称作“第二代创新厕所”（G2RT）的新型、低成本的厕所，为世界提供安全、可负担的卫生设施。
At first glance， Yee may appear to be an unlikely candidate to lead a sanitation revolution． He’s not a sanitation expert． He’s a mechanical engineer who specializes in thermal energy technologies． But those skills are very relevant to how his reinvented toilet operates． It uses heat， energy， and pressure—much like an espresso maker—to process and treat feces．
乍一看，易博士似乎不太像领导卫生设施革命的人选。他不是卫生专家，而是一位专门研究热能技术的机械工程师。然而，这些技能与创新马桶的运行原理密切相关。创新马桶在很大程度上类似于浓缩咖啡机，使用热量、能量和压力来处理粪便。
Still， don’t expect to have a radically different bathroom experience with Yee’s toilet．
不过，别指望使用“易式马桶”会带来截然不同的如厕体验。
How you do your business won’t really change at all．
你如厕的过程其实根本没什么改变。
But what happens to it after will change， dramatically．
但这之后发生的事情将会发生巨大的变化。
In existing toilets， human waste is carried away from our homes by sewers across many miles to treatment centers for processing． While this is a system that has served the world well， it is not sustainable or affordable for the billions of people living with unsafe sanitation． Sewage systems are incredibly expensive， and they waste precious water resources when many people around the planet face severe water shortages．
对于现有的厕所，人类排泄物通过下水道从我们的家里排走，到达几英里外的处理中心进行处理。虽然这一系统为世界提供了良好的服务，但对于数十亿使用不安全卫生设施的人来说，这是不可持续、也无法负担的。排水系统造价昂贵，而且在全球许多人面临严重缺水的情况下，排水系统会浪费宝贵的水资源。
Instead of relying on a network of pipes and millions of gallons of water to move human waste for treatment， Yee’s toilet processes the poop and pee on site in the toilet itself， which is about the size of a washing machine．
“易式马桶”无需依赖管网和数百万加仑的水来运输人类排泄物至处理厂，而是在马桶内就地处理粪便和尿液，该马桶仅约一台洗衣机的大小。
Yee’s toilet has two parts． A frontend， which looks like a typical flush toilet， and a backend， where the waste is processed．
“易式马桶”由两部分组成。一个看起来与典型的冲水马桶相似的前端，以及一个用于处理排泄物的后端。
Here’s how it works：
这是它的工作原理：
When the toilet is flushed （with a small amount of water）， the urine and feces are separated．
马桶冲水后（用少量的水），尿液和粪便被分离。
The urine and flush water go through a multi-step liquid filtration process that produces clean water． This water is then recirculated to flush the toilet．
尿液和冲厕用水经过一个多步骤的液体过滤过程，产生清洁的水。这些水将被循环利用于冲厕所。
And the feces， depending on the model， will take one of two pathways．
取决于不同的设备型号，粪便将通过以下两种途径之一进行处理。
In one pathway， the feces get pasteurized， killing off all pathogens and eliminating odors before being pressed into cakes， which are then dried．
途径之一是对粪便进行巴氏消毒，杀死所有病原体并消除异味，然后将其压成饼状，再进行烘干。
In the other pathway， the feces are combusted underwater at 373 degrees in a process known as micro-supercritical water oxidation， producing ash suspended in water．
在另一途径中，粪便通过一种被称为“微超临界水氧化”的过程，在水下以373度的温度燃烧，产生悬浮在水中的灰份。
The water is sent through the filtration process and the ash is dried．
水被送入过滤过程，灰份则进行烘干。
Both the feces cakes and ash then fall into a receptacle that users can dispose of in the trash or compost．
粪饼和灰份都会落入一个容器中，用户可以将其投入垃圾桶或进行堆肥处理。
That last sentence may have caught your attention． If there is any major behavior change required with this toilet， it’s emptying the toilet． But that only needs to happen every few days and the waste itself is odorless and pathogen free． It won’t be any more inconvenient than emptying the lint catcher on a clothes dryer．
上一句话可能已经引起了你的注意。如果说使用这个马桶需要对行为习惯进行什么重要的改变，那就是清空马桶。但这只需要每隔几天进行一次，而且废物本身是无味的，也不含病原体。这不会像清理衣物烘干机的绒毛收集器那样麻烦。
Currently， Yee’s team is at the end of the development phase， fine-tuning the engineering components of the toilet． Next year， they will be field testing it in South Africa， India， and China． They also plan to have some toilets at demonstration sites in the U.S． and Europe， where Yee expects there will also be demand for a toilet that doesn’t rely on sewers or piped water．
目前，易博士的团队正处于开发的最后阶段——对马桶的工程零件进行微调。明年，他们将在南非、印度和中国进行实地测试。他们还计划在美国和欧洲的示范点配备部分这样的马桶，易博士预计这些地方也会有对于无需下水道或自来水厕所的需求。
Yee hopes that someday people will think of his toilet as an appliance like a coffee machine or refrigerator． It will be portable and can plug into a wall outlet or run on solar power．
易博士希望有一天，人们会把他的马桶看作像咖啡机或冰箱一样的电器。它将是便携式的，可以接在墙上的插座上，或依靠太阳能运行。
Much more work needs to be done to bring Yee’s toilet to market． Like any mass-produced appliance， Yee’s toilet needs to be durable and simple to maintain and operate， which is why the field testing of the toilet will be critical for identifying any weaknesses in the design．
要将易式马桶推向市场，还有很多工作要做。与其他大规模生产的电器一样，易式马桶需要持久耐用，并易于维护和操作，所以马桶的实地测试将对识别设计缺陷至关重要。
It also needs to be affordable． The target price is expected to be about $450． While that’s much more affordable than the infrastructure needed to support sewage systems， it may still be too expensive for the world’s poorest families． That’s why it will be critical for donors， governments， and private companies to work together to support the adoption of this new sanitation solution so it can have an impact on the billions of people who need it most．
易式马桶还需要是可负担的。其目标价格预计在450美元左右。虽然比起维持排水系统所需的基础设施，易式马桶要实惠得多，但对于世界上最贫穷的家庭来说，它可能还是太过昂贵。这就是为什么捐助者、政府和私营企业必须共同努力，支持采用这种新的卫生设施解决方案，使其能够对最需要它的数十亿人产生影响。
But I’m optimistic that this toilet has a bright future． And I hope someday soon， you will have the opportunity to “take a Yee” yourself．
但我乐观地认为这个厕所未来的前景一片光明。我希望不久的将来，你会有机会自己“去一下易”。
