163: More people, more waste

Over six thousand people crammed into such a small space. Initially, some problems weren't obvious, but as the population grew, the various waste products from daily life began to become apparent.

Especially after the weather turned cold, things like domestic sewage and feces became very difficult to deal with. At such low temperatures, relying on microbial decomposition was simply too slow.

Tian Ming touched his earbud and said, "Ji Ruping, come up here!"

A moment later, the office door opened, and Ji Ruping walked in.

"Boss, you were looking for me?"

"What does this mean?" Tian Ming placed the document on the table.

Ji Ruping glanced at it and quickly explained, "Boss, it's like this: our Shelter area is too small, and with the recent low temperatures, the toilets are severely clogged. The cold outdoor temperature has also frozen the entire septic tank."

"So, the septic tank is unusable now, is that right?" Tian Ming asked indifferently.

"It's not unusable, it's just that every time we need to send people over to thaw it with a flamethrower, and the smell after each thawing makes those people complain endlessly," Ji Ruping replied.

Tian Ming couldn't help but laugh. To be honest, this problem was quite serious. The Shelter had a large and dense population. How to deal with the waste generated by production and daily life was quite tricky for Ji Ruping.

Tian Ming looked at Ji Ruping and asked, "This matter should be handled by logistics, right? How do you plan to solve the garbage problem?"

Ji Ruping said, "According to conventional treatment methods, it can only be biodegraded. But we don't have this equipment, nor do we have the relevant talent. We've already arranged for people to specifically tackle this issue. But the main problem is still the extremely low temperature; that biogas digester is completely useless."

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, "How about this: for solid waste, you gather it for me, and I can use it as raw material. For sewage and feces, I'll temporarily help you deal with it. Life support and logistics also need to keep up. If the population grows in the future, I won't have time to help you deal with these things every day."

Ji Ruping nodded, indicating she understood.

Tian Ming continued, "Are there any other issues?"

Ji Ruping said, "It's still problems caused by the low temperature. Previously, Shen Yi used the waste heat from the power plant to thaw the river water, then filtered and purified it, but the small river has stopped flowing. It must be due to the extremely low temperature."

Tian Ming pondered for a moment and said, "So what's the solution?"

"We plan to build a giant water storage and insulation tank on the northern hillside, with a capacity of ten thousand cubic meters. Our Shelter's current daily water consumption is about 100 cubic meters, and the power plant's steam turbines mainly use circulating water, so their water consumption is fine," Ji Ruping said.

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, "Don't store water in one place; store it separately. Our Shelter's current defense system isn't very complete. Store drinking water and utility water separately and plan to put them in the Underground City. The specific layout will be handled by the people below."

Tian Ming considered this because concentrated water sources are unsafe. If ten thousand cubic meters were contaminated, all of it would be contaminated. Besides drinking water, kitchens and various other places also need water.

With more people, consumption naturally increased; there was no way around it.

Ji Ruping had no objections. Currently, the main source of water was melted snow, purified for daily use. The cafeteria, in particular, had a large consumption. With the increasing population, most of the cafeteria now used machines for cooking and kneading dough; otherwise, it would be difficult to feed so many people relying solely on manual labor.

"Boss, what are you going to turn those feces into?" Ji Ruping asked curiously.

"How about turning it into food?" Tian Ming asked jokingly.

Ji Ruping's expression immediately changed. From the perspective of the constituent elements of matter itself, there was no problem with this. But as a human, it was psychologically difficult to accept.

"Alright, it was just a joke. Turn it into fuel. Is there anything else?"

"No."

Tian Ming acted immediately. He left the Central Building and walked towards the septic tank behind the Shelter's dormitory building.

Although the weather was cold, he could still faintly smell the nauseating odor in the air. With a thought, the odor molecules were automatically decomposed as they approached him.

He stood on top of the septic tank cover, able to cover the entire area. First, he heated the contents below and performed sterilization.

All the carbons inside were extracted by Tian Ming and turned into barrels of carbon-containing solid alcohol. After the conversion was complete, Ji Ruping sent people over to transport it. The feces problem that plagued the Shelter was thus easily solved.

As for the sewage problem, Tian Ming didn't let it go either. He purified the sewage and put it into the Shelter's water storage tanks. This molecular-level purification technology was clean and hygienic. However, water that was too pure was also not good, so he added some trace mineral elements to it, turning this water into non-pure water.

After all this was done, the sky gradually darkened. Snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.

The area outside the cafeteria was very noisy. The population had grown too quickly, and although the Shelter's cafeteria had been expanded, it still couldn't keep up with the population growth. The entire Factory Building No. 3 couldn't accommodate six thousand people dining simultaneously.

The Comprehensive Management Department adopted staggered meal times. The Materials Group brought in many insulated lunchboxes and also issued relevant notices: unless necessary, do not dine inside the cafeteria.

Many people got their food and then ran to their dorms to eat. For those involved in construction projects, logistics was directly responsible for delivering meals.

Tian Ming entered the cafeteria's private room and saw many unfamiliar faces. As the leader, there were five thousand people from Huaxin and the scientific research base combined, and Tian Ming didn't know all of them.

But these people all recognized Tian Ming. As soon as their boss appeared, everyone in the large private room stood up in unison.

Tian Ming felt a bit awkward, waving his hand and saying to those people, "You eat; there's no need for such a commotion."

Saying that, he entered a small private room. He casually ordered a few dishes. While waiting for his meal, the door outside the private room was pushed open, and a man walked in, grinning.

"Hehehe, Boss!" The man was Chubby, and Tian Ming recognized him as You Suowei.

He was wearing a worn cotton jacket, a felt hat, and holding a document bag.

This guy came directly to him, probably because he had something that needed to be resolved.

Tian Ming waved to him and said, "Come and sit!"

You Suowei came before Tian Ming but didn't dare to sit, standing in front of the dining table and saying, "Boss, I apologize for the abrupt interruption. Give me 10 minutes; I absolutely won't delay your meal."

"If you have something to say, say it..." Tian Ming said.