Chapter 178 The Water Supply Project in Eldoria
When Henry arrived at the bamboo forest, he found it bustling with activity. Many people were cutting down bamboo, which was used to make the packaging box at the Garden Eatery.
To make access easier, many people had even cut down the smaller bamboo, which furrowed Henry's brow. Ellie, who was beside him, asked in a hushed tone, "Henry, is something wrong?"
"Of course, it's not right. Cutting down the large bamboo is Okay, but destroying the small ones too? What will people cut next year? The year after?" Henry pointed to the distant Azure Peak Range and said, "Are they going to go deep into the mountains to cut bamboo in the future?"
Eldoria would only develop faster, and the population would only increase. The consumption of bamboo tubes would also increase. With the way these commoners were cutting, regardless of size, it was likely that they would have to go to faraway places to cut bamboo next year.
"I see!" Ellie now understood. Henry had explained to her before; this was sustainable development.
"Let's go and take a look over there," Henry said. Ellie would know how to arrange things with just that one sentence. He would leave such small matters for Ellie to handle and secretly keep an eye on it later.
In another bamboo forest, the bamboo was tall, reaching 130 to 165 feet in height, with a diameter of 11 to 16 inches. This reminded Henry of the Giant Bamboo on Earth, which was equally tall.
"What kind of bamboo is this?" Henry asked Willow. He really didn't recognize the bamboo of this era.
"This is Hard Bamboo. The bamboo walls are thick, and they won't rot even if buried underground for a dozen years. It's even harder than some wood, and few people use this kind of bamboo," Willow explained simply.
"Have someone cut one down," Henry instructed a member of the War Wolf Battle Squad. He wanted to see how thick the bamboo walls were.
"Yes!"
Henry and the others stepped aside. It was no joke for this nearly 165-feet-tall hard bamboo to fall.
The steel-made broadsword struck the hard bamboo, and the chips that were cut off were very small. This kind of bamboo was indeed harder than some wood.
"How long does it take for this bamboo to grow so tall?" Henry asked.
Willow pondered for a moment before saying. "My father mentioned before, it probably takes a dozen or twenty years."
Henry nodded. With such a long growth period, it was reasonable to have this hardness. Perhaps this was the kind of bamboo he was looking for.
Bamboo had many uses, such as bamboo flooring, bamboo wall panels, bamboo cutting boards, bamboo wine barrels, tea barrels, and food packaging boxes, among other crafts. With technological advancements, high-quality paper and premium artificial silk could also be produced.
Bamboo could be said to be a renewable resource. In this large bamboo forest, there were five or six types of bamboo. The packaging box used by the Garden Eatery were made from a type of bamboo with thin walls and short nodes, which could grow into mature bamboo in just one year.
And Henry also found information online that said using bamboo fiber in combination with tree sap, pipes made using winding techniques were no worse than concrete.
Of course, Henry hadn't really explored the tree sap of this world yet. He decided to have someone investigate it when he returned, just to be prepared.
A sound of bamboo falling to the ground brought Henry, who was lost in thought, back to his senses. He and the others quickly walked over and saw a piece of hard bamboo lying on the ground.
"The bamboo walls are really thick," Henry was very surprised. The bamboo walls of this hard bamboo were actually two to three inches thick. What did this mean? This was simply a natural pipeline.
As Willow said, it won't rot even if buried underground for a dozen years. So, this hard bamboo had a very important use, and with such thick walls, as long as the carpentry skills were good enough, it could be well embedded to prevent leaks.
"Good, keep an eye on this patch of hard bamboo. Without my permission, no large-scale logging is allowed," Henry instructed seriously.
"Yes!" Ellie immediately answered.
Henry still had to go back and design how to lay the hard bamboo, as well as the water source and other things. The pressure had to be sufficient, otherwise, it would be difficult to supply water to residential areas.
"Willow, is there a waterfall not far from Eldoria? I heard the terrain is high," Henry asked softly.
"Yes, there is a waterfall there, it's very spectacular. My father took me to see it once, it's very beautiful," Willow's eyes revealed longing.
"Okay, next time we'll go for a picnic," Henry said with a smile. He just needed to inspect the high-altitude waterfall.
"Great! I want to eat iron plate fish," Tess was the first to jump up.
"Good!"
Henry nodded repeatedly. He had everything he needed, and as for the pressure, there was no need to worry. As long as he made good use of the siphon physics knowledge, he could solve the problem of tap water.
"Ellie, have someone make more cement pipes, twice as big as usual," Henry added.
"Okay!" Ellie nodded.
In fact, they didn't know what Henry was doing here, or why he was doing all this.
"Alright, today's work is done," Henry stretched lazily. He had been busy since he left in the morning, and today was very productive for him.
"Henry, are you going back?" Willow asked softly.
"No, I have to leave something behind when I come to the bamboo forest," Henry said with a smile.
Henry turned to Tess and said, "Go to the carriage and bring down that box of wine."
"Okay!" Tess ran off.
"Are you going to drink here, Henry? Let me have someone hunt some preys," Willow remembered that there were snakes and bamboo rats in the bamboo forest, which were delicious preys.
Henry shook his head, uttering, "No, I'm going to make some bamboo wine, which we can drink in the winter."
Henry had wanted to make some bamboo wine last time, but the incident with Emerson's injury made him go back for surgery, and he forgot about it. Now was the perfect time.
"Bamboo wine? What's that?" Willow and Ellie blinked in confusion. They had only heard of oat wine.
"You'll find out soon," Henry said mysteriously.
"Here it is, Henry," Tess said, holding a large wooden box in front of Henry.
"Let's go, over there, we need some greener bamboo," Henry took the lead and walked toward another patch of bamboo. Hard bamboo was not suitable for making bamboo wine.
Soon they arrived at another bamboo forest. Henry then, in the bewildered of Ellie, Tess, and Willow, made a small hole in the bamboo and used a syringe to inject the wine into the bamboo, and then sealed the hole. He did this for a dozen or so pieces.
The three girls express their opinions one after another.
"Is this bamboo wine, Henry?"
"Wow, Henry, you're wasting it. You're actually giving bamboo wine to the bamboo, I'd rather have it myself."
"Wow, Henry, you're acting a little strange today, aren't you?"
