Dream Life Chapter 12.2: “Rathmore Village Reform Plan (Second): Start of Soap Development and Installation of Hand Pumps”

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 Along with the soap, I started developing a hand pump.

 

 

 I would make it with Bertram, a dwarven blacksmith, without the help of Nicholas, who was busy with the toilet and the soap.

 

 I told Bertram about my background from my grandfather.

 

 He came here at my grandfather’s invitation, but he owed my grandfather something.

 

 

“I will never let your secret out of my mouth, rest assured.” (Bertram)

 

 

 He put his hand on my head and promised me that.

 

 

 Now, back to the main topic, why are hand pumps included in sanitation?

 

 The reason lies in the wells I saw.

 

 A well without a pump is, of course, a hole in the ground. Therefore, the opening is large and the possibility of foreign matter entering the well is high.

 

 I forgot where I saw it, but there was once a story about an animal falling into a well, then causing an epidemic.

 

 It is certainly possible in wells with large openings and incomplete lids. Even a single rat falling into the well would severely contaminate it.

 

 It is dark inside the well, making it difficult to confirm that an animal has fallen in, and it is too late for the disease to spread. Furthermore, removing them would require a major cleanup operation, emptying the well and cleaning it out.

 

 

 On the other hand, a pump-type well, even if it is poorly constructed, can pump up water several meters high, so there is no need for wells to be opened.

 

 Since iron pipes would rust, a pump made of copper pipes and a copper cylinder would be less expensive to maintain.

 

 As far as I could tell, the copper could be molded and cast, so all I had to do was give them a drawing of the structure.

 

 The structure itself is a prototype positive displacement pump with just two check valves, so I don’t think it would be too difficult.

 

 

(Pumps are my specialty as a plant manufacturer, and I am especially good at constant displacement pumps. Well, it was just a matter of combining things ordered from vendors, but I know the principle…) (Zack)

 

 

 At first, I thought so confidently.

 

 However, when I started making it, it did not go well.

 

 First of all, it was difficult to make the pump body and cylinder part out of copper.

 

 And it is not strong enough.

 

 Copper ingots are quite expensive and cannot be used in large quantities, which is why we tried to make them thin, and we needed to make them cheap in order to popularize the product. Trial and error were conducted to achieve the optimum thickness.

 

 When we reached a certain dead-end, Bertram asked me a question.

 

 

“Why do you insist on copper? Iron would be a little stronger and cheaper in the first place.” (Bertram)

 

“I decided to go with copper because it’s easier to maintain. The pipes will be in the water for a long time, and if they are not copper, they will rust and become useless.” (Zack)

 

“Well, that’s right.” (Bertram)

 

“And if you keep copper and iron in contact with each other all the time, the iron will fall apart quicker. That’s why I decided to use the same material for the pipe and cylinder.” (Zack)

 

“Really? But only if they touch each other directly, right? Then why don’t you just put a piece of wood between them?” (Bertram)

 

 

 I was stunned by his words.

 

 

(That’s right. I had stuck with it because I didn’t have anything that could be used as a joint, but wood would be a good enough substitute. If the wood deteriorates, we can replace it. I’m afraid my thinking has become rigid. I have the brain of a four-year-old, so I should be more flexible…) (Zack)

 

 

 Unlike conventional copper, castings will be made with molten copper.

 

 Accuracy will be an issue since it will be made in parts, but as expected of dwarves, they will make almost exactly what I ordered.

 

 

 A cylinder with an inside diameter of 10 cm was made, and a lever was attached to the crank. I also attached a rod and a check valve to the bucket and a check valve to the inside of the cylinder.

 

 The difficult part is the seal around the outer circumference of the bucket and the actuation and sealing of the check valve.

 

 The seal on the outer circumference could be sufficiently covered by the manufacturing precision, and the check valve was confirmed to work without any problems after several adjustments.

 

 

 The copper pipes were also made by pounding a block of copper, and then the flanges were made in five-meter lengths so that they could be connected.

 

 

(It seems like it would work. I didn’t expect him to make each screw by hand, but he did. He is a very dexterous dwarf.) (Zack)

 

 

 On June 28, about a month after starting the development of the pump.

 

 We temporarily assembled the completed pump in the workshop and tried it out.

 

 A tub of water was placed under the pump to check how well it pumped up.

 

 As I was too small for a four-year-old, Bertram had to move the lever.

 

 

“You just move this lever up and down, right?” (Bertram)

 

 

 I nodded broadly and smiled at the dwarf standing on the platform and immediately began to move the lever.

 

 It was only about two meters to the tub, and after a few ups and downs, the water immediately gushed out.

 

 

“So that’s how it works! We’ve succeeded!” (Bertram)

 

 

 Bertram’s happy voice could be heard from above.

 

 

“It’s a great success! It’s going to work so well …”

 

 

 I was impressed as I watched the water spurt out of the water outlet.

 

 

(Finally, a success, even though the soap didn’t work at all…) (Zack)

 

 

 As I was impressed, Bertram, who had come down before I knew it, lifted me up and put me on his shoulders.

 

 

“All right, buddy! How many of these do I have to make! Tomorrow I’m gonna start making in bulk!” (Bertram)

 

 

 That day, I reported the completion of the pump to my grandfather and father, and the next day it was decided to install it in a well in the village north of the eastern hill where Bertram’s workshop was located.

 

 

 The next day, with grandfather and father watching over us, we installed the pump in the well. At first, we wanted to test its capacity, so we tried it in a well with a slightly lower water level and found that it had the capacity to suck up about five to six meters.

 

 

 Theoretically, it would be ten meters, but due to the accuracy of the workmanship, I expected it to be seven to eight meters. It may be my lack of knowledge, the limit of the check valve, or the altitude, but the capacity was slightly lower than expected. However, I was a little relieved to find that a well on level ground could be used since the water table was about three meters below the ground surface.

 

 As we began to install the well in earnest, the villagers gathered around and looked at it with curiosity. When Bertram demonstrated how to produce water, they became even more interested and moved the levers one after another.

 

 Both adults and children were amused by the demonstration and were happy to scoop up the water again and again.

 

 

“It seems that if you pump out too much water, the water will get muddy and stop coming out. Don’t get carried away.” (Bertram)

 

 

 The adults scratched their heads in disappointment when Bertram told them that, and the children looked a little disappointed when the adults stopped them.

 

 

(It sure would be fun. The only thing I’m worried about is how to maintain it, but the structure is simple enough that I’m sure we can work it out…) (Zack)

 

 

 The first success of the Rathmore Village Reform Plan was the hand pump.

 

 

(It’s a labor-saving solution, but I don’t think it’s quite what it was intended for in the first place. Everyone’s happy, so we’ll make do…) (Zack)

 

 

 I asked my grandfather and father to help Bertram with the labor, and I was scooping up water from the well with my hands.

 

 

A/N: As for the story, I wanted to put it a while back, but it just didn’t sit right, and it was almost continuously an internal affairs type of chapter.

 

 By the way, I have never made soap or hand pumps.

 

 I’ve seen the inside of a hand pump a long time ago, and I thought that it would be easy to write [T/N: 逆止弁 or “Gyakushiben”] check valve = [T/N: チェック弁 or “Chekku-ben”] check valve (I almost wrote [T/N: チェッキ弁 or “Chekki-ben] “checky valve” or a valve checker). Also, I thought it would be easy to make them, so I had them made easily in the story.

 

 

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