In the Apocalypse, Hoarding Supplies with the System's Hundredfold Critical Hits

As Li Ming articulated the theme of the meeting, everyone understood that it could potentially affect the lives of many.

However, resolving the food and water issues for a population of 40 million was a daunting task, with the most challenging aspect being the water supply, not the food.

Yes, you read that correctly—water was the main problem. Matters such as domestic water use were irrelevant until the drinking water issue was resolved.

The priority was addressing the most basic survival needs!

Li Ming's Minister of Industry immediately stood up to speak, "Reporting, Chief Commander, our Ministry of Industry has made some preparations. Please issue your orders. If there's anything you need from us, just let us know."

Li Ming nodded approvingly. Yang Kai, the head of Li Ming's timber group, spoke up, "Chief Commander, I have a solution to address the drinking water problem for such a large population, but it will be costly!"

Li Ming looked at him, "Speak!"

"Chief Commander, I suggest we build large-scale seawater desalination plants along the coast. Given our current technology, seawater desalination isn't technically difficult; the main issue is the cost. You'll need to consult the technology department for specific technical details," Yang Kai proposed.

Yang Kai had foreseen Li Ming's intentions, which is why he made this suggestion.

Li Ming turned his attention to the technology department. The head of the technology department and two experts from the department stood up.

"Chief Commander, technically, the most common methods for large-scale seawater desalination are reverse osmosis and distillation. Reverse osmosis, also known as ultrafiltration, is a membrane separation desalination method that has been used since the last century.

This method uses a semi-permeable membrane that allows only solvents to pass through, separating seawater from freshwater.

Under normal circumstances, freshwater diffuses through the semi-permeable membrane to the seawater side, causing the liquid level on the seawater side to gradually rise until it stops at a certain height. This process is called osmosis. At this point, the static pressure of the water column on the seawater side is called osmotic pressure.

If an external pressure greater than the osmotic pressure of the seawater is applied to the seawater side, the pure water in the seawater will reverse osmosis into the freshwater. The biggest advantage of this method for seawater desalination is energy saving."

"Of course, given the current high temperatures, we can also use solar distillation to desalinate seawater, which can supplement the main method."

"In general, with our industrial capacity, the latest type of osmotic membrane can withstand high pressure. Therefore, a large seawater desalination plant can produce approximately 850,000 tons of fresh water per day."

"If we add the fresh water extracted by solar distillation, the daily output can reach 900,000 to 950,000 tons."

"Of course, to save energy, I suggest our seawater desalination plants be primarily powered by solar energy. The location of the plant should consider the following: first, it should not be far from the coast; second, it should be able to withstand tsunamis and major earthquakes."

The head of the technology department provided the information necessary for Li Ming to make a decision.

Li Ming asked the technology department, "Minister Zhao, what is the approximate construction cost of such a seawater desalination plant?"

"Chief Commander, the construction cost of such a plant should not be very high with our existing resources. The main costs are the water intake pipes, solar power equipment, and specialized booster pumps. I will provide you with a cost breakdown for the plant later!"

"In fact, the benefits of a seawater desalination plant for us extend beyond just fresh water. We also get a large amount of sea salt, which can be processed into table salt. Sea salt will also provide us with more chemical raw materials, so the by-products alone are quite profitable."

"Okay, in that case, I plan to build about ten seawater desalination plants along the coast in the first batch. After all, seawater is inexhaustible. Also, the fresh water produced by our seawater desalination plants must be safe, and safety must be guaranteed," Li Ming decided.

After the meeting, Li Ming quickly approved the construction plan from the Ministry of Industry. At the same time, Li Ming began providing the seawater desalination plants with earthquake-resistant, shockwave-resistant, and tsunami-resistant black technology equipment.

The deployment of Li Ming's engineering corps and a large number of engineering machines immediately attracted the attention of many survivors.

On the other hand, the news that the Zhongxing Chamber of Commerce was building seawater desalination plants spread, and it quickly became a major topic of discussion among the survivors.

Li Ming's seawater desalination plant can produce 950,000 tons of water per day, equivalent to 950 million liters of fresh water. If this is increased by a hundredfold, the plant can produce 95 billion liters of fresh water per day.

This fresh water can be sold or used for some inland bases. Li Ming plans to build ten such plants.

A full ten plants! The fresh water produced by one plant, calculated at two liters of drinking water per person, is enough for 475 million people. Ten such plants can basically meet the needs of the entire country.

Of course, Li Ming will not provide this fresh water to the survivors for free; they will need to spend points to buy it.

However, as a necessary commodity, the price will naturally not be very high.

It will be sold at a price of one point per two liters of water.

This price is neither high nor low; it can only be said that as a survival resource, it is relatively low compared to market prices.

Ten desalination plants can basically meet the needs of some coastal areas. In addition to the ten large desalination plants, more than thirty small desalination plants were also built.

To supply water to some small coastal cities.

While Li Ming's seawater desalination plants were being built in full swing, the survivors were living in dire straits.

Li Ming's Chamber of Commerce began selling purified floodwater to the public, also priced at one point per two liters of water.

At the same time, it opened channels for purchasing various scrap metal, and countless survivors began taking apart cars on the streets by various means.

Anyway, these cars had basically been soaked in floodwater and ravaged by extreme cold, so the entire car was basically useless.

Now that the floodwater has receded, these things will naturally become one of the important resources for the survivors.

Li Ming's purchase price is calculated by weight, with 20 pounds of metal worth 1 point. An ordinary car can be exchanged for about 200 to 230 points, depending on the weight of the rubber and metal........

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