Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 64: Power Station

Chen Mu and the others returned indoors. Tang Jing explained her idea to everyone, though not everyone fully understood it. Nevertheless, they all raised their hands in agreement, knowing that having water for bathing in the future would be essential.

Work quickly began.

In truth, the twelve of them currently had little else to do.

The room was already cleaned and tidy, and for the larger items that even Wei Dalei couldn't move, they could only leave them be for the time being.

Anyway, they didn't need much space.

"Let's start with something simple, like making a water reservoir," Tang Jing quickly assumed the role of chief engineer.

"Should we use metal or plastic for the material?"

"Both have their advantages. Metal is more stable, but plastic is more practical. It's easier to control, right?"

"Mmm," Chen Mu nodded.

"Moreover, it makes it easier to see the water level."

"Then, what about the thickness?"

"Three millimeters for the side walls, four millimeters for the bottom, and two millimeters for the top."

With their experience from building the houses, Chen Mu wasn't unfamiliar with this task, but the only difference was that this time they were dealing with something much larger.

The first item to make was a plastic sheet, 8 centimeters long and wide, with a thickness of 4 millimeters. When they spread it out on the ground, it felt even larger than one of their previous rooms.

Fortunately, controlling the plastic was already within Chen Mu's grasp, so despite the size, it wasn't much of a problem if he spent some time on it.

At this moment, Wei Dalei was leading the boys, continuously carrying out some raw materials from cardboard boxes, mostly disposable plastic spoons and similar items.

As Chen Mu worked, he suddenly thought of a problem, "I wonder how Qingbei and the others are dealing with their water issue?"

Zhao Xiaoyan and a few other girls had temporarily finished their tasks and gathered around Tang Jing and Chen Mu, discussing various issues excitedly.

Hearing Chen Mu's question, Du Jiajia said, "Since there are many people attending the meeting, they placed many barrels of bottled water on the playground. It should last them a long time."

"But why did I see Song Yu and the others looking so dirty the last time I saw them? They seemed like they hadn't washed their faces in a long time, just like us," Zhao Xiaoyan wondered.

"Maybe there are too many of them, and they don't dare to use the water casually, so they only use it for drinking," someone suggested.

"On the other side of the high school, there's a ready-to-use faucet, which solves their water problem once and for all," He Ying seemed to sigh at the other group's good luck.

However, Tang Jing suddenly smiled, "Solving it once and for all is impossible. That faucet probably doesn't work anymore."

"Why?"

"Because, to put it simply, almost all tap water has been cut off now."

"Ah?" Everyone was stunned.

Chen Mu hadn't even thought about this issue, but after Tang Jing's reminder, he suddenly realized, "Because there's no electricity."

Tang Jing smiled and said, "That's right. Although it's called tap water, it doesn't come directly by itself. It's all pumped into the municipal network by water plants and transported through various pipes."

"Why was there still tap water a few days ago, then?" He Ying was puzzled.

"The electricity supply in our city mainly comes from two sources. One is our city's thermal power plant, which provides 70% of the city's electricity. The remaining 30% comes from the neighboring Qin City's nuclear power plant.

"Our city's thermal power plant uses coal as fuel, and every eight hours, it requires manual operation to add fuel. So, theoretically speaking, after the apocalypse, our city can have electricity for a maximum of eight hours.

"But nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants are different. These two types of power plants are more automated and can continue to operate for a long time without human intervention. China's largest Jiutian hydroelectric power station, in an ideal situation, can run continuously for a whole year without human intervention."

"Isn't that exaggerated?" Including Chen Mu, everyone found it hard to imagine.

Tang Jing smiled and said, "Of course, that's just a theory. No one knows the actual situation, and no one dares to try it. But I estimate that some large hydroelectric power plants can continue to operate for several weeks after humans disappear.

"The situation with nuclear power plants is a bit more complicated. They can also run on their own for a while, but after that, the cooling systems will be the first to stop working. The reactor's temperature will keep rising, and after some time, it will either be forced to shut down or... Boom!"

As Tang Jing spoke, she made an exploding gesture with her hands.

"So, a few days ago, we could still use tap water, but after all the electricity is gone, we'll have nothing?"

"It's not just a problem with power plants and water plants. Whether it's water or electricity, during transportation, they undergo intermediate processing. Water might undergo secondary pressurization, and electricity needs to be transformed as well. If there's an issue at any point in this process, we won't be able to use it at our end. To be honest, the fact that the taps in the school are still working up until now is already a miracle."

"So, in the future, we can only rely on rainwater?"

"Of course, there are still rivers and lakes, but those are too dangerous and too far away. We don't need to think about them for now. However, in the short to medium term, there's another water source we can use."

"Where?"

"The fire hydrant network."

"Don't they need water pumps for that water?"

"The fire protection system is more complex. Usually, it uses pressurization equipment like fire pumps to maintain the network pressure. However, in addition to that, according to fire safety regulations, buildings of our scale must have elevated water tanks."

"Elevated water tanks?"

"Yes, they are usually installed on the rooftop of the tallest building. They serve to maintain network pressure, provide initial water supply for firefighting, and act as a backup in case of pump failure. The capacity of these firewater tanks is astonishing; it could supply us with water for a lifetime, considering the quantity."

"So, even without electricity, the fire hydrant network will still be full of water, right?"

"That's correct, of course, assuming the entire network remains leak-free."

"But we won't be able to access that water."

"Certainly not for us, but for the people at the First High School, it's crucial. Without tap water, they must be facing serious water problems."

"I doubt they would think of it."

Du Jiajia muttered, as most students wouldn't be familiar with the school's fire protection system. If Tang Jing hadn't mentioned it, she would never have known about it.

"Perhaps."

Tang Jing smiled and said, "Compared to that, the water diversion project we're constructing is more stable and long-lasting. The only issue is that if it doesn't rain for a long time, the stored water's quality might deteriorate gradually."

"It's already quite impressive; nothing is ever perfect."

Chen Mu spoke as he continued working without stopping.

Soon enough, the first piece of molded plastic was laid flat on the ground.

"Your skills have improved a lot again," Tang Jing said with a smile.

Chen Mu looked at his achievements in just a few minutes and smiled without saying anything.

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