CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 176 MAKING A WATER PURIFIER

Chen Xin didn’t plan to dismantle the equipment in his shelter, so modifying the vehicle meant he had to collect resources anew or make parts by himself.

Fortunately, he had a workbench, and he could process some of the materials needed for the vehicle modification himself. What he truly needed to trade for and collect were mainly raw materials and those that were more complicated to process and more conveniently exchanged.

These included car parts, cold-resistant materials, and various types of steel needed for vehicle modifications, which Chen Xin had to obtain through exchanges with Li Yulong and the SWAT team.

However, materials like shock springs, track parts, and water circulation devices could be fully manufactured by himself, consuming only a minimal amount of survival points and raw materials.

Most of the raw materials Chen Xin had reserved were prepared for the planned comprehensive upgrade of the shelter, including mainly construction materials like cement and rebar, with the rest being mostly insulating boards and similar items.

But he didn’t have much high-performance steel used for making shock springs and track parts, with only a few steel plates intended to reinforce the shelter’s structural integrity.

"So, I have to collect a batch of steel!" Chen Xin sighed helplessly as he looked at the list of materials.

Even though there was a system, allowing even the simplest metals to serve as raw materials, or even non-metal materials, considering cost and investment, as well as subsequent use, Chen Xin felt it more appropriate to get a batch of steel.

Fortunately, aside from parts requiring metal materials, items like the water circulation device did not require a large consumption of metal. Although metal performed better, other materials could substitute.

So Chen Xin decided to first create everything he could with the materials at hand and see if he could make some lower-grade substitutes for what he couldn’t, then compensate by upgrading them with survival points.

Although the system’s upgrade function was powerful, it consumed a significant amount of survival points. Even though he currently had nearly five digits of survival points, if he used the system functions without reservation to make these things, he’d use up more than one-fifth of them.

So, saving where possible was necessary.

Making a water circulation device wasn’t too difficult and didn’t consume too many materials; the key aspect was the recycling and purification of wastewater for reuse.

No need to worry about recycling the wastewater, as the water pipelines would handle waste recovery when the water circulation device was installed in the vehicle. The real focus was on purification.

Simple wastewater purification was not complicated; using activated carbon, gravel, and such materials could sediment and filter the wastewater.

However, this kind of simple filtration was ineffective, not separating potential chemical contaminants and heavy metal ions.

Chen Xin had purchased portable filters essential for wilderness survival and had studied their structures.

Apart from basic gravel and activated carbon filtration, the key component was the filter membrane, which effectively filtered out bacteria and other harmful substances, making the dirty water drinkable again.

In his wilderness survival experiences, Chen Xin used such portable water filters, handy for obtaining clean drinking water when clean sources were hard to find or boiling was not feasible.

Using this type of filter as part of the water circulation device was more than adequate.

However, Chen Xin didn’t use his portable filter directly as a component nor dismantle it for parts but planned to create one himself.

He sawed a segment of PVC pipe for the main body, cut additional piping for auxiliary materials, used the system’s processing functions to modify structures, transforming the auxiliary pipes into endcaps, and filled the main body with filter materials.

The filter membrane had specific materials he didn’t have. Though possible to fabricate with system functions, Chen Xin found it unnecessary.

Since using system functions was involved anyway, why not upgrade directly?

After filling the newly made filter body with sand and charcoal, Chen Xin compared the consumption of making a filter membrane himself versus directly upgrading the filter and decisively opted for an upgrade.

After all, it was a small component, costing 10 survival points to make a filter membrane, but a simple upgrade required only a bit of additional material and 15 survival points. Weighing both, Chen Xin could afford it.

Once the homemade filter reached the level of a purchased portable one, Chen Xin installed it as the water purification component in the self-made water circulation device.

Thus, the water circulation device, a crucial part of vehicle modification, was completed.

Marking a tick on the checklist, Chen Xin looked over the listed materials and components, contemplating his next move.

Just as he was deep in thought, his radio suddenly buzzed.

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At this time, outside Chen Xin’s shelter, a police armored vehicle was parked at his doorstep.

"Chen Xin said he’d come to open the door right away." On the vehicle, a SWAT team member put down the radio and informed Li Head and an official-looking person beside him, not wearing a uniform.

Both nodded and said nothing further.

In the previous operation, although Li Head’s team had members like Qin Lan injured and hospitalized, and a few others also treated in hospitals, even lacking manpower, amidst city-wide mobilization and sweeping searches, they were still dispatched to conduct non-official shelter inspections with the Joint Investigation Group.

"A citizen cooperating with our SWAT team lives here, mainly providing us with fresh vegetables in exchange for survival supplies. We’ve checked before; there’s no suspicion." Li Head explained to the official, clearly speaking favorably on Chen Xin’s behalf, hoping to avoid suspicion.

"The Municipal Bureau’s work is, of course, trustworthy. However, the Joint Investigation Group decided on a second search; it’s safer to check again." The official nodded slightly without visibly reacting to Li Head’s explanation.

But seeing his demeanor, Li Head understood the official had considered his words.