Chapter 213: Chapter 213

To fundamentally resolve the issue with insect eggs, the only current method was to filter them out using filtration systems, but embarrassingly, they were all submerged.

If this issue had arisen before the apocalypse, it wouldn’t really have been a problem. Emergency production of ultrafiltration equipment would have been possible immediately. In the United States, everyone drank water straight from the tap, which was already filtered in factories; there, it wouldn’t even have been considered an issue.

But now, producing these devices had become very difficult, especially the precision components, because raw materials were extremely hard to find. Filter equipment and filter elements weren’t even produced together, and manufacturing a single device required hundreds, if not thousands, of different raw materials.

Therefore, the only option left was to salvage previously manufactured equipment.

But there was only so much equipment available, and with simply not enough to go around, drinking water with insect eggs wasn’t causing immediate harm. However, it wouldn’t be long before large numbers of evolved insect eggs appeared. Drinking such water then would inevitably lead to daily stomach aches, various forms of diarrhea, and even cases of dehydrating diarrhea...

In the past, the ground would at least have lumps; in the future, it would be covered in puddles... UGH. According to the news, it was the result of bacteria reacting with the stomach and intestines, similar to getting diarrhea from eating spoiled food.

By that time, both ultrafiltration systems and mineral water would become exceedingly precious commodities. Those who could afford them would enjoy immense comfort; those who couldn’t would just have to endure and survive.

Some clever people, after trying various methods, had finally managed to filter out some of the insect eggs.

"Mom, if filtration systems can filter out insect eggs, then our ancestors’ methods should be able to filter them out too," Jing Shu said languidly.

"What method? Our household filter can’t be set up like that, and the bit of water it filters every day isn’t nearly enough to water all those vegetables."

"You mean other methods? Sigh, many have tried wilderness survival filtration methods, but those don’t filter out insect eggs cleanly enough to meet the standards. Researchers say that insect eggs are like invisible bacteria; can such minuscule bacteria really be filtered out?"

The question of what else, besides ultrafiltration, could kill the insect eggs had become the hottest topic recently. Just look at Zhu Chuangshi, who came up with one such method. Not only was he interviewed by television stations, but he also became a Huaxia internet sensation. He was now invited daily to perform exterminations. However, Zhu Chuangshi’s method wasn’t a permanent cure and was difficult to implement widely.

Then there were other methods like UV sterilization and chemical disinfection. All of these could eliminate some insect eggs, but the remaining ones would still consume the crops, preventing them from germinating.

"Come on, let’s go to the back mountain to gather materials. I’ll try something out at your work tomorrow," Jing Shu said mysteriously.

Mrs. Jing was skeptical. With technology so advanced nowadays, what use could ancient methods possibly have? They surely couldn’t meet the standards for drinking water.

The standards surely couldn’t be met, but as long as they could find a different way to grow crops, wouldn’t that be sufficient?

Jing Shu dragged Mrs. Jing around the back mountain for an afternoon, gathering everything from various minerals and rocks to yellow clay.

After hauling a whole cartload of stuff, Jing Shu was woken up at four in the morning by an eager Mrs. Jing ready to go to work.

First, at the faucet, Jing Shu created a three-layer filter by wrapping different grades of soil—coarse, medium, and fine—in cloth. As the water percolated down through these layers, the red earthworms were filtered out. This soil would need to be replaced daily.

Then, Jing Shu spent an entire day constructing a super-large pool.

The water that passed through this initial filtration would enter a concave-shaped pool.

The first section contained large Shi Zi, big cobblestones, small cobblestones, tile shards, fine sand, and yellow clay. After the water settled, it flowed into a second, brick-lined section, which contained charcoal and fine sand.

Mrs. Jing seemed hesitant. Hadn’t this method been tried before? The results weren’t ideal, were they?

However, at this stage, the basic filtration was indeed complete. The third tank was a large storage container. Its upper part had a wooden plug. Once the tank was full, water would seep through this wooden block and overflow into four smaller compartments, completing another round of filtration.

Most households could typically filter out a small portion of insect eggs by just using the third tank. There was no need for an excessive fourth step; instead, the idea was to wait for the insect eggs in the third tank to grow larger.

Insect eggs, initially as small as bacteria (the smallest known bacteria are larger than 0.1 micrometers), could grow much larger in just two or three days. So, since there were no means to filter them out when they were microscopic, it was possible to wait for them to grow a bit before filtering. Of course, some people said, "Why not just filter the red earthworms directly and then catch the mature worms to eat the grown insect eggs inside them?" That method also worked, but it was notoriously slow. In this setup, placing mature worms was merely a means of cleaning.

"Every day, we need to catch mature worms and put them in the third and fourth tanks to clean out the grown insect eggs," Jing Shu instructed.

Some eggs would inevitably slip through to the fourth compartment. But by placing vegetable roots on the surface of this pool, about half the remaining insect eggs would be attracted to them. Once these eggs grew, the mature worms could then consume them.

This was actually known as the ’Pig-Nurturing Style’—essentially, a ’Wait-Till-They’re-Grown Approach.’

In the middle of the fourth compartment, a drainage hole was opened so the finally filtered water could flow into a fifth compartment.

Opening a drainage hole in the center helped sediment settle at the bottom, while the insect eggs clung to the vegetable leaves on the surface. The water drawn from the middle layer was thus filtered and generally met the quality standards for growing vegetables.

This kind of filtration system had existed since the Ming Chongzhen era. In her previous life, someone had improved it and discovered these concave pools were really effective. One stage connected to another in a seamless sequence; it was the most efficient method, significantly more effective than individual filtration.

"Mom, the downside of this pool is that it filters slowly. One pool of water probably takes a day to filter, but that should be enough for your department’s irrigation needs, right?"

"It’s enough, it’s enough! My daughter might not be good at studying, but she’s good at everything else."

After Jing Shu taught Mrs. Jing the principles, the Management Department managed to avoid water shortages for the next few days.

They started planting a new batch of vegetables, and Jing Shu had a premonition that her mother would definitely set a great example for Wu City this time.

While the other twelve departments were cultivating simple mushrooms, only Mrs. Jing’s Development Zone stood out, using this homespun method to filter water and even grow crops. Although it was slow, it still counted as a significant contribution.

Speaking of the common people’s food, there had been improvements in recent days. Content originally comes from novel⚑fire.net

Although the government couldn’t grow other crops, they weren’t short of water, so they managed to cultivate the first batch of mushrooms teeming with insect eggs.

They looked quite scary.

Layers of mushrooms were covered with a mass of white insect eggs, resembling blackheads embedded in the fungi. After being boiled by the canteen cooks, they had a pleasantly springy and chewy texture, and biting into them released a burst of sensation, much like eating fish roe.

Boiled mushrooms with insect eggs: 0.2 Virtual Coins per serving. Add a bit of batter, and it was 0.5 Virtual Coins.

But if you voted for Zhao Shupi as the distribution director through the big data voting system, you got an extra serving of batter for free.

Zhao Shupi’s name suddenly soared in popularity in the Banana District, gaining a lot of support. From time to time, long lines could be seen at the batter window, where one could cast a vote and receive a serving of batter.

That very day, Wang Qiqi gave Jing Shu 500 Virtual Coins she had borrowed from various sources, asking, "How can we maximize the use of 500 Virtual Coins?"