Humans Shrunk 100 Times

The damp air, mixed with the scent of soil and green grass, wafted in from under the door crack, as if bringing the gradually warming May back to its lush spring days.

The rain gradually subsided.

Chen Mu, accompanied by Wei Dalei, He Ying, and Tang Jing, walked from under the door crack to the outside. Their purpose was to conduct an on-site inspection of the upcoming water diversion project.

The others remained inside the house because of their limited ability to protect themselves.

"Considering Chen Mu's current limitations, my idea is to use this rainwater downpipe for drainage," Tang Jing said, pointing to a vertical white rainwater pipe attached to the outer wall of a storage room.

The so-called rainwater downpipe, commonly known as a rainwater drainage pipe, is installed on the exterior wall of a building to drain rainwater from the roof.

"We'll catch all the water that comes down and then channel it indoors?" He Ying asked.

"Of course not," Tang Jing chuckled. "We wouldn't be able to control that volume of water, and if we collect it at the bottom, the height might not be sufficient."

"Height?"

"When we don't have power equipment like water pumps, the only way to transport water is by relying on gravity. But the problem is, we not only need to bring the water in but also drain it out. Therefore, without a significant elevation difference, it's challenging to achieve."

"Alright, but I'm still not clear on how exactly to do it."

"In essence, I plan to make a hole in this rainwater pipe, then connect another pipe that goes inside the building, loop around inside, and then come out again."

"And then, on this pipe that goes inside, we make an opening and attach another water pipe to supply us. The reason for doing this is that when it rains, the water in the original rainwater pipe will exceed our control, so we need a transitional measure."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Mu asked, "If we open the vertical downpipe, would we be able to collect the water when it's just a light rain with not much water?"

Tang Jing nodded, "Yes, the water inside the downpipe won't be able to move freely as it will flow down along the inner walls in a spiral shape. So that won't be a problem."

He Ying asked again, "But then, wouldn't we only have water when it rains?"

Tang Jing smiled, "That's why we also need to build a water reservoir."

"A water reservoir..."

"Not just a reservoir, because the water will gather from the roof and will likely contain many impurities, so we need to do some basic treatment."

"Like what?"

"For example, for the first ten minutes after it starts raining, we won't use the water and let it flow out. Additionally, at the front of the reservoir, I'll add a grille and a settling tank."

The moment the group heard these technical terms, they felt a sense of unreality.

"Don't be afraid. Although it sounds complicated, it's not that difficult. The real coarse and fine screens used in water treatment are mostly for sewage treatment, involving two large sets of equipment to ensure that the water entering the pump won't affect its operation. But for us, we just need a simple filter with a precision of 0.1mm or below. Additionally, the length of the settling tank doesn't need to meet standard requirements either. We'll add an extra step of settling before boiling the drinking water. As for how we'll boil the water..."

"Stop!"

Everyone interrupted Tang Jing simultaneously, feeling overwhelmed.

"Geez, do you think we can understand all that?" Wei Dalei felt his head buzzing.

Chen Mu had a rough idea of what was being discussed, but terms like "coarse screen" and "settling tank" left him confused as well.

He Ying sighed, "Tang Jing, to be honest, did you spend all our sleeping time studying? And besides, they never taught us these things at school, right?"

Tang Jing felt a little embarrassed, smiling, "Should I explain it more simply?"

"No need. When the time comes, you direct us, and we'll do as you say," He Ying said.

Chen Mu also felt a bit helpless, but he was still a bit quicker in understanding than Wei Dalei and He Ying. He immediately thought of a question, "How big should the water reservoir be?"

Tang Jing replied, "I've worked it out. According to the per capita water usage of urban residents, the daily water consumption for each person is estimated at 120 to 180 liters, including drinking, bathing, laundry, flushing, etc. Let's take an average of 200 liters. With our current group of 12 people, considering future development, we'll assume 50 people, which means 10 liters per day. Based on the rainfall frequency and recurrence period in Shangshi City over the past 20 years, I suggest storing a 30-day water supply. So, the total would be 300 liters."

"How much is 300 liters?" Wei Dalei asked.

"It's roughly equivalent to a small bottle of mineral water."

"That doesn't seem too bad."

"The water reservoir must be sealed to prevent evaporation and should only be opened during water inflow and outflow. However, there will still be some losses during use. Considering various margins, I suggest constructing a water reservoir with an effective capacity of 400 liters, with an actual volume of around 650 liters. The specific dimensions would be 8cm in length and width, and 10cm in height."

Tang Jing finished explaining.

Silence fell over the scene once again, with each person imagining what such a water reservoir would look like.

Chen Mu had long been accustomed to Tang Jing's profound knowledge, but at this moment, he still felt a bit unreal. He had thought about certain possibilities and wanted to ask several times, but couldn't find the right words.

After hesitating for a while, he decided to hold back.

He then asked, "Since the plan is already so clear, should we start working right away?"

"So soon?" Wei Dalei was taken aback.

"Such a large project will probably take a long time," He Ying said.

"Well, the main factor depends on how capable Chen Mu and Dalei are at the moment." Tang Jing continued, "Chen Mu, dealing with pipes like this should not be a problem for you, right?"

"It's manageable."

After some thought, Chen Mu said, "Moreover, the larger pipes might even be easier."

"That's not a big concern. In water pipe construction, the most challenging part lies in the connections between pipes and fittings. If it's plastic pipes, and we don't have the conditions for hot fusion, achieving seamless connections would be quite difficult. However, this shouldn't be a problem for you, so the precision requirements for the pipes themselves are not high; they just need to be leak-proof."

"I'll do my best."

"As for the water reservoir, I actually don't think it will be a big problem. It's essentially just an enlarged version of a room, and in some aspects, it might even be easier since we don't need a door."

"But a 10-centimeter-high water reservoir might still be challenging for us now."

"Well, I'll figure out a solution for that. If all else fails, we might need to build a simple scaffold."

Seeing the fearful looks from everyone, Tang Jing laughed and reassured them, "It's just 10 centimeters, not as high as you might imagine. Don't think of it as 10 meters, it's a completely different thing."

Gradually, everyone let go of their worries about falling from heights, a subject they had discussed many times before.

"Since that's the case, sooner rather than later, let's get started now."

Chen Mu extended his hands, which had been in his pockets all along.

If they could truly construct such a project with their own hands, it would indeed be quite fulfilling.

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