Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 325 Small Water Tower

After going through the pile of textbooks, Chen Fan left the pile of "miscellaneous books" on the other side for himself, so he didn't need to look at it much.

At most, if there are extra books, or if Chen Fan is not interested in some of them, he can take them out and put them in the brigade headquarters' archives, which can be considered a small library in Lujiawan.

So Chen Fan skipped over that area and led them to the other side of the electronic and mechanical parts section, pointing to a pile of messy junk and saying, "Let's get this straight, this phonograph is mine, you can't take it!"

Everyone stared wide-eyed. A phonograph? Where is it?

Anquan picked up the large bronze megaphone and shook it at him, "You're not talking about this, are you?!"

Ye Shubao leaned closer, took it in his hand, and held it up, his face full of strangeness. "A broken horn, and you call that a phonograph?"

Chen Fan smiled smugly, and then smiled even more smugly.

Then Xiao Liewen kicked him in the thigh, saying, "Say something! You're acting like a Kuomintang soldier."

Chen Fan took two steps forward and pulled out the phonograph body and a package of parts from the pile of junk. He chuckled and said, "The original phonograph is broken, but once I fix it, I can play records."

Safety looked left and right, "Where's the record? You're just talking nonsense if you don't have a record."

Chen Fan looked at him speechlessly, "You're supposed to be an educated person, can't you speak a little more politely?"

Xiao Liewen was chewing on his pipe, but there was no smoke inside. They had already put out their cigarettes before entering the house. He was annoyed that there was no smoke, and immediately asked with a dark face, "I'm not a cultured man. Where are the records? What are you talking about if there are no records?"

Chen Fan hunched his shoulders and silently pulled out a large, neatly wrapped, square paper package from the corner. "This is the record."

Finding these records is really not easy.

Records from the Republican era are different from modern records. Although they are both vinyl records, records from the Republican era were as big as discs, or even bigger, while modern records are as small as platters. Chen Fan didn't know if they were compatible, so he tried his best to find a batch of old records from the Republican era.

What he took out now was a thick stack of "plates".

This stack of old records came from several places. Some were found by Lao Yang at a recycling company; they had been sitting in a corner for many years, and it was unclear whether they were still usable. Some were bought from a secondhand store, so they might still be useful. And some were found by Jiang Tiantian at home.

In her words, the gramophone in the house had been smashed, and there was no use keeping these vinyl records. However, her mother couldn't bear to throw them away, so she simply brought them over for her younger sister to listen to.

It's difficult to piece things together from various sources!
However, no one knew how difficult it was for him to find these records. Anquan even egged him on from the side, saying, "Then hurry up and fix it. Try playing a record after you've fixed it."

Although both the production team and the commune had record players, and a short clip would be played on the radio every day, we were already tired of those songs.

Even the best songs get boring after listening to them for years or even decades.
Moreover, these songs all have similar melodies, so the old songs from the Republican era are more appealing in comparison.

Just like Teresa Teng in the early 80s, she was so unique that she was naturally loved by people.

Chen Fan chuckled, put the vinyl record aside, pointed to a pile of mechanical parts next to him, and said, "Assembling the record player first is fine, but these two diesel engines will have to wait."

He then went to move the phonograph body.

"Wait!!!"

Secretary Yang roared, grabbed Chen Fan's arm, and asked with a serious face, "What did you just say?"

Chen Fan smiled and winked, "I said assembling the records first is fine too."

Captain Zhang pulled him from the other side, "No, the next sentence."

Chen Fan: "Oh, then these two diesel engines will have to wait."

Gan!
Everyone went completely mad instantly.

Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, Xiao Liewen, Ye Shubao, Captain Yang, Accountant Liu, and Warehouse Keeper Huang all ran to the pile of machine parts, staring at the pile of junk like scanners, asking, "Where is it? Where is it?"

Anquan crouched down and tried hard to recall the structure of a diesel engine. "Ah, this is the fuel tank, right?"

Chen Fan: "This is a water tank."

Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin quickly moved closer to him and asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you say that these things could be used to assemble two diesel engines?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "You didn't ask either."

The two were speechless. You bring back a bunch of junk, who knows what you're going to do with it?!

Then I silently lamented to myself, "I'm sure I'll get scolded for missing such important information."

Diesel engine!

That's a versatile power source; add a drill pipe and it can drill a well; add a propeller and it can sail a boat; add bearings and tires and it becomes a tractor; add a water pump and it can pump water; add...

Then they saw Chen Fan being pulled away by Xiao Liewen, who said, "Quick, let's install one and see."

Chen Fan gestured, "No problem."

He then took out a bag of parts and various tools.

He later bought these from a specialized hardware store; they had various rubber pads and screws. The scrap yard only had large, loose parts left; he had to buy the smaller ones himself.

With everyone's help, Chen Fan quickly assembled the two diesel engines.

Unfortunately, there is no diesel fuel available, so we cannot try it for the time being.

Nevertheless, everyone stared at the two diesel engines, not daring to blink.

Actually, diesel engines aren't that expensive. A brand-new single-cylinder diesel engine costs only a little over 2000 yuan, and a used one costs even less than 8 or 900 yuan, which is less than the price of Chen Fan's house.

Moreover, the village does have diesel engines. In the oil pressing workshop of Team 10, there is a small diesel generator that provides power to the machines in the oil pressing workshop and cotton mill.

However, in the entire Lujiawan area, there was only one small diesel generator, which not only had pitifully low power but also could not be used for any other purpose.

Firstly, no one knows how to modify it, and secondly, this machine was specially approved by the commune. If it is used for other purposes, the commune will hold them accountable.

As for buying a new diesel engine, that's not impossible, but what about the permit?

Diesel engines are industrial equipment and require special permits. Where can you buy one without a permit?
You can only buy secondhand!

But everyone wants a used diesel engine, so when will it be Lujiawan's turn?

As a result, to this day, the production team still only has that one diesel engine.

On the contrary, in some northern regions, since the main industrial bases were located in the north at the time, most of the diesel engine production was kept locally. In addition, with the country supporting agricultural development in impoverished areas, it was even more convenient to purchase diesel engines.

Some production teams there are equipped with almost all kinds of small agricultural equipment such as tractors and harvesters, and they live a better life than the workers in the city.

Yes, those are the production teams you see in newspapers. If you look for historical documents, they are the ones that appear most often in books and newspapers!

In short, when Secretary Yang and his colleagues saw the two diesel engines, their eyes turned red.

After looking at it for a while, Captain Zhang suddenly grabbed Chen Fan, grinning from ear to ear, "Little Chen, these two machines are for the brigade headquarters, right?!"

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "No, no, I can only give you one at most. I need the other one."

Everyone stared at him, and Secretary Yang glared at them, saying, "What use are you?"

Chen Fan squatted down, patted a machine, and said with a smile, "I want to dig a deep well next to it, add a water pump, and build a small water tower."

Small water tower?
Even the security department was alarmed: "Are you going to mess with the tap water system?"

Currently, the entire Nanhu Commune is still largely reliant on natural water sources. Rural production teams use water from nearby rivers, while town offices and residential areas use hand pumps or water tankers to pump water from the river to large reservoirs, where residents then collect water from taps. This situation is prevalent not only in Nanhu but throughout the entire Yunhu area.

Even in major cities like Shanghai, the days of using water tankers to transport water continued until the mid-to-late 80s.

At that time, many residents living in the alleyways of the old city relied on old wells for their livelihood. These were the kind of old wells with only one hole where you would throw a bucket in and then pull it up by hand.

In areas without old wells, water is entirely supplied by water tankers. Two truckloads of water are delivered daily to a water pool in the middle of the residential area, and each household's daily water consumption depends entirely on this pool.

In Nanhu Commune, there were only two units with "tap water": one was the commune government, and the other was the commune's largest enterprise, the "Water Transport Company." These two units built their own small water towers, pumped water from deep underground wells, poured it into the top of the water towers, and then used natural pressure to deliver the water to each household.

(The small water tower used to be the water tank, with the cement plastered on top.)
The principle of a water tower is very simple: it uses the pressure difference created by different altitudes to supply water. However, the function of a water tower is not simple and is closely related to residents' lives. First, it stores water, playing a role in regulating and supplementing the water source when the city's tap water system is insufficient.

The second method utilizes the height advantage of the water tower to automatically deliver water, giving the tap water a certain water pressure and head.

In the days before tap water networks were widespread, small water towers that could extract groundwater from underground became the best option for water supply in many places where tap water was unavailable.

If a small water tower is to be built in Lujiawan, it will become the third village in the entire Nanhu Commune to have running water. How could they not go crazy?!

Captain Yang reacted immediately and quickly raised his hand to show his support, "Our team will pay for the small water tower; Xiao Chen doesn't need to pay anything!"

Once this water tower is built and water pipes are connected to every household, everyone will be able to use tap water.

How could such a good thing be enjoyed by Chen Fan alone?!
Must be shared!

Moreover, Chen Fan lives in Team 6, right next to every household, so getting a water pipe wouldn't be a big deal. Old Yang is always thrifty, how could he let such a good opportunity pass him by?!
He didn't want to let it go, and neither did the leaders of the brigade headquarters.

Captain Zhang immediately glared at them and said, "You six teams have a water tower all to yourself? Aren't you afraid of overeating?"

Then, with a wave of his hand, he said, "This is not up for discussion. The small water tower can be built, but it would be best to build it in the middle of the production team so that all the teams can benefit from it."

Captain Yang didn't object, as long as Team 6 could have running water.

But Chen Fan said, “Captain, how much money would it cost to build a small water tower that the whole brigade can use? You have to think about it. It’s more than ten miles from south to north, and we have to lay water pipes to every household. No matter how much we try to save money, it’s still a lot of money.”

Moreover, with more households needing to supply water, the capacity of the small water towers will need to be increased. What was originally a three-story building may need to be a six-story building, and what was originally a two-tenths-acre plot may need to be a whole acre.

This building is a complex system project. If one part gets bigger, the whole thing will have to be bigger as well. It won't just cost a couple thousand dollars; it could cost tens of thousands.

"Just one water tower costs this much, plus the cost of laying water pipes for miles, and then there's the pipes connecting to each household. You do the math, how much would that cost?!"

This phone call left several leaders at the brigade headquarters speechless.

Secretary Yang looked at Anquan, who pursed his lips and nodded slightly, indicating that Chen Fan was right.

He looked at Captain Yang again and couldn't help but curse, "Is such a great thing only going to benefit your Team 6?!"

Out of the 12 production teams, you are the only ones who can get running water. Don't you care about fairness and justice?

As for the idea of ​​building the water tower elsewhere, not for Team 6, such a brilliant idea would never have crossed their minds.

Secretary Yang was angry, but Captain Yang, Accountant Liu, and Warehouse Keeper Huang were all laughing heartily.

Yang Chuanfu laughed and said, "Secretary, you can't say that. It just so happens that we have a guy named Chen in our team. He's from our sixth team, and he happened to get a diesel engine and also happened to know that we could build a water tower. It's all a coincidence. It has nothing to do with whether it's cheap or not."

The custodian, Huang, grinned and nodded repeatedly. "We just happen to have the means to go ahead, it's really nothing."

Accountant Liu said, "Look at all the units in the town, only the water transport company and the commune government have running water. We can't say that the commune doesn't uphold fairness and justice, right?"

Captain Zhang spat, his face dark, "Pah! You're all just showing off, you're all selfish, you're all..."

Chen Fan silently pondered for a moment, then said, "The small water towers of the commune government and the water transport company can only supply their own units because they have a large population. If they were to supply other units, the capacity of the small water towers would not be enough. However, our Team 6 only has forty-seven households."

At this moment, Captain Yang suddenly interjected, "Including your household, there are already forty-eight households."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes."

Then he continued, "Generally speaking, a small water tower with the smallest capacity can store 20 to 30 tons of water, and a slightly larger one can store about 50 tons of water. Based on the current household water consumption, it can supply about 100 households, so in addition to Team 6, it can also supply another small team."

Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang are right. It's easy to choke if you try to do everything yourself. If you share the burden with another team, Team 6 won't become the target of everyone's criticism, and the other teams' "jealousy" will be downgraded to "envy".

He paused for a moment, looked at Captain Zhang and Captain Ye, and chuckled, "We just need to lay another section of thick water pipe. Whichever team receives the extra water, that team will have to pay for laying the pipe."

Since the diesel engine was brought back by themselves, Team 6 should benefit from it. The team's pipelines will naturally be the responsibility of the team. If other teams also need tap water, the extra portion will definitely be theirs.

The "team contracting system" of the production team made accounting that simple.

As soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, Captain Zhang immediately said, "The brigade headquarters is in Team 5, and Team 5 is also close to Team 6. It would be more cost-effective to build a water pipeline through there. I think we should decide on Team 5."

Ye Shubao's lips moved twice, but he ultimately didn't speak.

If we consider proximity, his family's team 7 would also count, but what Captain Zhang said makes sense. After all, the brigade headquarters is in team 5. If people from the commune or other production teams come and see that the brigade headquarters has running water, Lujiawan will be proud of itself!
At this moment, Secretary Yang thought for a moment and said, "When the production team has the conditions in the future, we will definitely connect the entire brigade with tap water. The brigade headquarters will still be responsible for the intermediate pipeline. This is also a signal to the other teams, telling them that this small water tower is not the private property of Team 5 and Team 6. It's just that the brigade headquarters has limited conditions at present, so they are the first batch of teams to have water. When conditions are met in the future, we will definitely connect all teams with water."

Upon hearing this, everyone else nodded in agreement.

Captain Zhang had no objections; he was more than happy that Team 5 could save some money.

Following the "Lujiawan Primary School Expansion Project", the brigade headquarters, together with Teams 5 and 6, jointly approved the "Small Water Tower Tap Water" project.

Chen Fan found a piece of white paper, drew half of a map of Lujiawan on it, and then drew a circle in the middle near the main road, saying, "Since we need to supply both Team 5 and Team 6 at the same time, the most suitable place to build a small water tower is this middle location, so it's convenient to both sides."

Captain Yang and Captain Zhang came over together, staring at the area he had circled, and immediately realized where it was.

Captain Yang nodded slightly. "You chose that small hill by the roadside, right? There's only a little rapeseed planted on that hill, so building the small water tower there won't have much of an impact."

Chen Fan said, "The main reason for building the small water tower there, besides the fact that it's the midpoint between the two teams, is because of this small hill."

The height of the water tower determines the height of the houses. The houses in teams 5 and 6 are built on earthen slopes, which aren't particularly tall. If the small water tower were built on flat ground, without the height difference, the water simply couldn't rise. Therefore, the water tower must be at least one story higher than the houses; this one story is where the water tank is located.

Ye Shubao stroked his chin thoughtfully and asked, "If there's a mountain nearby, wouldn't we be able to just pump water downhill without building a water tower?"

Chen Fan nodded. "That's right."

Then he shrugged and said helplessly, "Unfortunately, the entire Nanhu Commune is a low-lying area. We can only build water towers to pump the water to higher ground so that we can have running water."

As for future waterworks, they will be built with advanced technology and equipment, and will be completely different from the primitive small water towers we have now.

He paused for a moment, then turned to look at Anquan and said, “Although I know a little about the structural design of water towers, I have no experience. Also, we need to buy the water pipes and other related materials from outside. Brother An, could you see if you can contact the construction team that built the small water towers for the commune and the water transport company and ask them to send two people over to give us some pointers?”

The internal structure of the small water tower includes iron ladders, overflow pipes, downpipes, lightning rod wires, etc. The main building also has key parts that need to be reserved, such as fixing clips, windows, door openings, and drainage holes.

These devices are all designed to maintain the safe operation of the water tower. Chen Fan could have handled the design himself, but to ensure success, it would be best to have a professional come and give him some pointers.

Hearing his words, Anquan nodded without hesitation, "Okay, that's easy. I'll just call the county construction team later."

If you want to hire a water tower construction team to come and do the work, you might have to schedule it, but if you just need to hire two people to come and guide the construction, it will take almost no effort.

Under the policy of "Learning from Dazhai in Agriculture," the county construction team could not refuse; otherwise, they would not be able to bear the consequences.

At this point, Secretary Yang also said, "Although this is our Lujiawan project, according to regulations, the commune has an obligation to help the production team with its construction. I'll go to Secretary Qian's place again and say a few words to try and get some funds back."

Captain Zhang immediately said, "It would be best to just install water pipes directly."

Secretary Yang nodded. "I know that, of course. We'll take whatever we have, we won't be picky."

The power went out this morning, and I've been relying on batteries until now. I hope the power comes back on tonight, otherwise I won't be able to type. It's so depressing. o(╥﹏╥)o
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(End of this chapter)