1月，华盛顿特区外的一条下水道管道坍塌，导致超过2.4亿加仑的原始污水流入波托马克河。根据美国环境保护署的数据，这可能是美国历史上规模最大的污水泄漏事件，但仅为全年估计发生的7.5万起泄漏事件之一。
In January, a collapsed sewer pipe outside Washington, D.C., spilled more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. It is likely the largest sewage spill in U.S. history, but just one of an estimated 75,000 across the country each year, according to the EPA.
随着老化的下水道网络在人口增长和天气模式变化的压力下挣扎，欧洲的一支工程师和教授团队正在研发一种机器人，旨在灾难发生前检测并潜在地解决问题。
As aging sewer networks struggle with growing populations and changing weather patterns, a team of engineers and professors in Europe is developing a robot designed to detect and potentially address problems before disaster strikes.