The rise of nanometers

It's about two o'clock in the afternoon.

Yang Zhiye and others, who were driving a broken pickup truck, rushed back to Tianshui City from Maiji District.

The ruptured No. 8 pipe is located near the entrance of the First People's Hospital on Jianshe Road. The maintenance team is digging the pavement ground after closing the valves along the line.

After Yang Zhiye arrived, he found that pipes had been excavated. These pipes were old-fashioned iron pipes that had been installed for more than ten years and were now rusty.

The captain of the maintenance team, You Yusi, hurriedly climbed up from the pit: "Mr. Yang, there is a gap in the nearby sewage channel, which washes away the sand and soil around the water pipe. In addition, the pipe leaks, and it is easy to freeze and crack when the weather gets cold. .”

"Thank you for your hard work. Please repair it as soon as possible."

"Mr. Yang, it may take two days to replace the main water pipe." You Yusi replied awkwardly.

Hearing this time, Yang Zhiye couldn't help but feel a headache. Suddenly he slapped his forehead: "When Snail Industry provided equipment before, it didn't send a batch of emergency maintenance pipes and equipment. You go and get them."

You Yusi, who looked confused, was a little at a loss: "Um...Mr. Yang, we have never used that equipment before, so we don't know how to use it."

"Isn't there a manual? If it still doesn't work, please contact Snail Industry."

In desperation, You Yusi could only ask someone to go to the warehouse to pull it. More than 20 minutes later, the emergency repair pipelines and maintenance equipment that Snail Industry had left here were pulled to the emergency repair site.

The maintenance staff hurriedly checked the instruction manual and found that it was very simple.

"Quickly, cut off the frozen pipes."

Use a gas welding gun to quickly cut off the cracked section of pipe, and then use a wire polisher to polish the pipe surfaces on both sides.

Another maintenance worker burned an iron ring red and inserted it into the surface of the pipe. When the iron ring cooled, it would tightly fit on the surface of the old pipe due to thermal expansion and contraction.

The reason why the iron ring is set is to match the emergency maintenance pipe. The emergency maintenance iron pipe, which is also heated, is inserted into the old pipes at both ends. After natural cooling for more than ten minutes, the emergency maintenance pipe and the old pipe are firmly buckled together.

But this is not safe, because the pipe joints will still deform due to seasonal temperature changes, thermal expansion and contraction.

Over the joint, the repairman slips an insulated container, similar to a car tire, and tightens the container to seal it, making sure it doesn't leak.

You Yusi followed the instructions, opened the top of the container, poured in pure water, and then took out a bottle of white powder and poured it into it.

Finally, insert the conductive rod into the solution.

"Everyone come up."

In order to avoid getting electrocuted, everyone left the tunnel.

You Yusi shouted: "Power on."

After pressing the power switch, the electroplating agent in the container reacts quickly and condenses towards the metal pipe immersed in the solution. Soon, a layer of silicon nano-plating covers the surface of the pipe.

After five minutes of power on, ensuring that all the plating agent was consumed, the power on was stopped.

When the electroplating repair ring was removed, the translucent coating and the silvery gray under the coating were exposed. You Yusi picked up a hammer and knocked it and found that it was very hard.

"Go on, electroplat this section again."

After working back and forth for more than two hours, the old pipes and emergency casings were finally coated with a layer of silicon nano-coating.

After opening several gates along the way, tap water quickly passed through the maintenance section.

"Lao You, how is the situation?"

"There is no leakage problem for the time being, and there is no deformation of the casing."

Yang Zhiye breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, the maintenance team repaired the sewage canal and put an insulation layer on the pipe to prevent it from freezing and cracking again.

After pumping away the muddy water from the tunnel and backfilling part of the sand, the water pipe has been buried by more than one meter in sand, further increasing the thermal insulation capacity.

Next, we only need to repair the sewage channel and fill it with more than one meter of sand and soil. The pipe will basically be below the frost line of the ground.

Seeing the weather getting dark and the maintenance man covered in mud, Yang Zhiye ordered: "Lao You, the next finishing work is estimated to take a day or two, and we will be here today."

"OK."

Yang Zhiye took out 300 yuan from his pocket: "Go back, take a shower, and have an extra meal with the brothers."

"Thank you, Mr. Yang."

A group of maintenance workers hurriedly changed into spare clothes, packed up their tools, surrounded the pothole with guardrails, and put on warning tapes and flashing lights.

Back at the water company building, the maintenance workers took a hot shower in the company, and You Yusi took everyone to a nearby food stall.

In the middle of winter, it started to snow lightly outside.

Under the dim yellow street lights, the snowflakes shimmered white, and a dozen people wearing down jackets talked and laughed along the way.

"The new boss is quite good at being a good person."

"I heard that after the company reform, there will be assessment and diversion. I don't know what's going on?"

You Yusi rubbed his hands. After long-term maintenance work, his hands were not only thickly calloused, but also became dry and cracked in the winter, with dry cracks covering his fingers and palms.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "Huh... don't think too much. It's impossible for our maintenance team to cancel. It's hard to say for other departments."

"Boss, the maintenance equipment was very useful today."

"really."

"In the past, repairs to main pipelines could not be completed even a single day."

"Maybe new technology."

Went to Qipinxian Sichuan Restaurant and ordered pickled fish, spicy chicken, husband and wife lung slices, twice-cooked pork, fried pork with sour beans, etc.

The boss is a fat man who is an old acquaintance with You Yusi and others. He gave them several plates of kimchi and spicy radish: "You are so free? Didn't the water pipe burst today?"

"Just fixed it." You Yusi picked up a piece of diced radish and put it into his mouth. The crispy sound was mixed with a hint of sweetness.

"Repaired? So quickly?"

"New equipment is used."

The big fat man suddenly remembered something: "Old You, the tap water has gotten a lot better recently, and the disinfectant smell is not that strong anymore."

You Yusi took a sip of beer and smiled and replied: "The water plant has been renovated and new technology has been used. Once the pipelines are renovated, there will be no need for disinfectant salt."

"Has the water plant been renovated? I feel it is better to build more reservoirs, otherwise there will be no water in the summer, which will be a big trouble."

"Don't worry! There won't be too much water shortage this year." You Yusi said casually.

"Haha, thank you for your good wishes." The big fat man smiled on the surface, but in fact he didn't believe it in his heart. He had been opening a shop in Tianshui for seven or eight years, and he knew that the drought here was getting worse every year.

When summer comes, the water supply is either cut off every three days, or the water supply is limited to a limited time every day. Last summer, water was cut off in large areas for several weeks.

Even the water in the Qianhe River that passes through Tianshui City is getting less and less year by year. Last year, the bottom of the river was directly exposed.

After a while, the food was served one after another, and You Yusi and others also used their chopsticks, but considering that they had to repair the road tomorrow, they did not dare to drink.

Life is like the fragmented stained glass, which is as colorful as a kaleidoscope and reflects all kinds of strange people.

This city has a heavy past. It is famous for its water, but it is also declining day by day because of the water.

The water purification equipment in the water plant seems to have replaced Tianshui with a more powerful kidney, injecting a stream of water of life into the city.

The residents living there only feel the changes in water quality, but it is difficult to imagine that the technology behind it will change their lives.

The night in the northwest is far away from dawn. This is an era of radical change.