Crystal Clear

At the same time.

These past few days, Huang Xuyuan had been keeping a close eye on the company's development via the internet and telephone.

The waste collection work carried out by Blue Era in the urban district was progressing very smoothly; with the cooperation of the local urban authorities, the sanitation worker force had expanded by 420 people.

They had also begun incorporating areas previously excluded from the cleaning scope—Pubian Town, Hongcao Town, Magong Town, Dongchong Town, Tiangan Town, and the Zhelang Red Bay Tourist Area—into the urban sanitation coverage.

The daily volume of urban waste collected had reached approximately 840 tons.

Meanwhile, through continuous excavation, Blue Era had already cleared two of the dozen open-air waste dumping sites located in the urban-rural fringe, and it was estimated that all cleanup work would be completed within the next three months.

As for the other subsidiary, Hailu Gas.

They had made an initial breakthrough in the bottled gas market within the urban district, raising their market share to around 38%, and this share was continuing to climb.

Daily sales of liquefied gas were maintaining an average of about 45 tons.

Many distributors with a keen sense of the market had already begun approaching Bao Sikang, preparing to switch their allegiances.

After all, the price advantage of Hailu Gas was too obvious; the previous two liquefied gas suppliers were charging a wholesale price of 55 to 60 yuan for a 15-kilogram cylinder.

Yet, the retail price of Hailu Gas was at most 55 yuan. Users could vote with their feet, and if it weren't for the fact that Hailu Gas had not yet fully expanded its distribution channels, the markets of the other two gas suppliers might have already collapsed.

As these distributors switched sides, it was likely that within a few months, the residential gas market in the urban district would be completely swallowed up by Hailu Gas.

The headquarters of Suiren Company, meanwhile, continued to develop waste recycling technology.

Currently, the raw materials for gas extraction—kitchen waste, withered branches and leaves, food processing plant waste, livestock manure, and urban underground sludge—were in very abundant supply, allowing for the production of 120 to 130 tons of liquefied gas per day on average.

In case of an emergency, they could even tap into stockpiles of materials like plastic bags to use as feedstock.

In fact, Hailu Gas was already coordinating with the headquarters to build liquefied gas storage warehouses in the urban district; the storage capacity needed to maintain at least a two-month supply, which was the minimum safety line.

Lin Zifeng of Blue Era, accompanied by Lu Xuedong, Du Jinhua, and others, was at Xinlou Village in the urban district.

Most of the sanitation workers who had previously lived here had moved to the sanitation worker dormitory area; those who remained were family members of sanitation workers who kept livestock.

Looking at the situation before them, sewage flowed across the ground, and waste from the livestock farms was piled up in the Xinlou River on one side of the dirt road.

The river water was pitch black and emitted waves of foul stench, with many ducks wading through the sewage, foraging for food among the weeds in the riverbed.

On the other side of the river stood the Shanmei Vocational and Technical College, the only higher education institution in the Shanmei region.

Smelling the surrounding stench, Lu Xuedong frowned and said, "Manager Lin, I have discussed this with Xuyuan. The issue of the livestock farms owned by the sanitation workers' families must be resolved. My suggestion is centralized farming."

"But..."

Lu Xuedong took a document out of his briefcase: "This is the treatment plan Xuyuan faxed over a few days ago. You need to implement the specific details."

Taking the document, Lin Zifeng could only flip through it roughly according to the instructions.

Regarding the specific arrangements, Huang Xuyuan's plan was for Blue Era to establish a subsidiary, allowing the sanitation workers' families to join the farming company by using their livestock as their capital contribution.

Then, this farming company would centralize all the livestock for breeding, while also absorbing the sanitation workers' family members as employees of the farm.

Large-scale farming was conducive to health and epidemic prevention, feed procurement, and pollution control.

For example, ordinary small-scale farms were almost powerless against African Swine Fever because the pathogen of African Swine Fever could not be completely eliminated even after high-temperature boiling.

When sick pigs appeared, some were forcibly culled and buried, while others were slaughtered privately by unscrupulous individuals and re-entered the food circulation chain, making it highly likely to infect other small farms again through swill.

If Blue Era handled it, they could directly use these sick pigs as raw material for gas production, producing liquefied gas and organic fertilizer, thereby recovering some of the losses.

This would both complete the culling of sick pigs and prevent a total loss of investment.

In his suggestions for the construction of the farming company, Huang Xuyuan mentioned isolated farming, which could effectively reduce the outbreak of large-scale livestock epidemics.

After reading the well-organized plan, Lin Zifeng no longer felt the resistance he had earlier. If this project succeeded, their Blue Era might be able to achieve self-sufficiency without needing blood transfusions from the headquarters.

And the purpose of coming to Xinlou Village today, besides dealing with the livestock farm issue, involved another important matter.

Three sewage suction trucks with a capacity of twenty cubic meters were parked on the side of the dirt road. The drivers and operators worked together to maneuver a suction hose, inserting it into the sewage in the riverbed.

Driven by an electric motor, the sewage and sludge in the river were continuously sucked into the storage tanks. Soon, the twenty-cubic-meter storage tanks were filled with sewage and sludge.

The driver pressed a modified switch.

In the rear half of the storage tank, hydraulic machinery similar to a jack began to compress forward.

Under three atmospheres of pressure, the water molecules in the sewage and sludge were subjected to immense force, but because water is an incompressible liquid, the pressure on the water molecules had nowhere to go.

The driver pressed a button labeled "Power On."

Instantly, the water molecules in the water body seemed to find a vent, and a continuous stream of water molecules was "squeezed out."

Du Jinhua took a sample of the discharge from each of the three sewage suction trucks, preparing to take them back to the laboratory for testing.

"Director Lu, the water quality looks fine to the naked eye."

Watching the water flowing out of the discharge pipe, which was very clear and clean, Lu Xuedong could not help but nod.

In less than ten minutes, the weight display on the sewage suction truck showed that of the twenty cubic meters of sewage and sludge, only about 2.4 tons of solid pollutants remained.

After repeating the process five times, the storage tank of the sewage suction truck was finally filled, and a section of the Xinlou River had become crystal clear, revealing large pieces of debris at the bottom of the river.

The stench at the scene had also diminished significantly.

Lin Zifeng exclaimed in amazement, "It seems that with a few more rounds of filtration and control at the source of pollution, this river can be reborn."

Lu Xuedong was not overly optimistic: "It's a long road ahead. The headquarters plans to allocate a special fund of about five million to build a batch of specialized storage tanks for aquaculture wastewater pollutants, and then have the urban district cooperate with us to install them for other farms."

"But many farmers have their own composting methods; I'm afraid it won't be that easy?" Lin Zifeng voiced his concerns.

Lu Xuedong had already anticipated this: "We can use two methods to resolve it. First, allow the farmers to retain a portion of the manure for their own composting; second, each household can use their storage tank registration to receive five large bags of organic fertilizer for free from Hailu Organic Fertilizer company every year."

"That's a good plan. Those farmers will have no reason to refuse."

Lu Xuedong brought up another point of note: "To collect the organic fertilizer, the farmers must ensure that the plastic storage tanks are in proper working order, cultivating a sense of responsibility for public facilities."

Lin Zifeng also felt this consideration and suggestion were excellent; at the very least, for the sake of those five bags of organic fertilizer each year, the farmers would certainly be more vigilant.

After this conversation, Lin Zifeng immediately contacted the urban district officials.

Cai Haiyi was quite satisfied with Suiren Company; since they took over the urban waste management, the entire district had seen significant changes over the past few months.

After explaining the purpose of his visit, the urban district side expressed their active cooperation. After all, since it didn't require any fiscal expenditure, everything was naturally easy to discuss.

Thank you all for your support, and thanks to book friends Yuming Daoren, "Corner, Black Cat", and Shui Zai Paopao Li De Yu for the tips (ω｀)