Chapter 33: Karma (1/2)

Chapter 33: Karma

Translated by me, edited by drpetro.

No wonder the water quality here at the Dragon Creek beach kept deteriorating. So there’s a factory secretly dumping wastewater here.

This kind of dark green sewage is probably coming from a nearby chemical plant.

Furthermore, from the heavy corrosion and the amount of silt on top of the pipe, it has probably been in use for many years now.

To be honest, the discharge of wastewater by companies is an art.

The low-end companies directly discharge their wastewater stealthly into rivers and lakes. Then, not long after they start discharging, the entire lake or river is either colored gorgeously like a flower bed or stinks to no end.

This is really easy for the bureau of industry and commerce and environment protection office to find and sue them for. Owners who dare to do this generally are low level scum with thick skins. After they pay the fine that comes with the lawsuit, they just look for a different location to do it all over again.

As for the more well off companies, they would drill a well to connect to the underground water system and use high pressure systems to pump the wastewater directly into the ground.

Companies using these kind of methods are rarely caught. The tap water that ordinary citizens use generally comes from surface wells, so there is a very low probability of someone getting contaminated.

But the drawbacks for these methods are quite clear: there is only so much room in the underground aquifers, so it can only be used by those companies with small amounts of sewage. If it was the pipe next to the M.P.C.V., then it would probably fill up the underground aquifer in just half a month when running at full capacity.

Discharging into the deep sea is clearly one of the best options available. The seawater moves with each high and low tide. It also has all kinds of currents and jet streams to move the water.

As soon as the wastewater is discharged, it’ll be immediately dispersed by the currents. Plus the color of the wastewater is quite similar to the surrounding water, so it’s next to impossible to detect it above the waters.

At the same time, the cost of constructing a deep sea discharge pipeline is simply astonishing; it’s definitely not for the lighthearted.

But if this price tag is paid for, then the cost of treating the wastewater will be forever saved.

There is only Ye Qing developing here at Dragon Creek beach, but even so, now that he’s found the cause of the surrounding water deterioration, he definitely needed to do something.

The first idea that popped into Ye Qing’s mind was to weld the discharge end shut, this way the chemical factory will really be stuck because they need to cut open a new opening along the pipeline before they can start discharging again.

Underwater works are always difficult. Not mentioning anything else, just for the chemical factory to find the end of this pipeline will most likely take a significant amount of effort, money, and time.

At the same time, if he were to weld the pipe shut, then it’ll also raise suspicions as there are only two companies in Zhongyun that can perform underwater construction works.

Hence Ye Qing directly drove the M.P.C.V. back, then had a peon find a piece of wood from the warehouse and cut it into a big cork.

Ye Qing, using his pocket knife, carved a whale and a circle shaped english logo onto the wood.

—— Sea Shepherd Conservation Society!

This is an international conservation society that can easily rival a small nation’s naval powers. They regularly appear on the news, using water cannons and stink bombs to disrupt whaling operations.

Ye Qing doesn’t have any favorable impression of this group of foreigners, but neither does he care. Using them as a scapegoat here is more than appropriate.

10 minutes later, the M.P.C.V. carried the giant cork in its arms, following the underwater tunnel, drove back to the rusted pipeline.

The discharge rate of the pipeline isn’t fast at all. The M.P.C.V., with it’s mechanical arms, can easily lift several hundred pound object. Using it here to stick the cork into the pipe is just too easy.

Moreover wood materials will swell upon getting spooked, so it’s a very fitting choice for sealing off the pipe.

At this moment, on the other end of the underwater pipeline.

A factory situated west of Huanhai Avenue, 10 plus kilometers away from the Dragon Creek beach, is a large chemical plant which specialises in producing all kinds of plastic materials.

A water pump system with high levels of automation and many large pumps was working at full capacity, pumping the wastewater from the wastewater reservoir into the pipeline and out into the ocean.

This set of equipment is called the Negative-pressure-free water supply control system. Normally only water pumping stations use them to send water through long distances.