novelslam Chapter 62 Stunned, Unbelievable
Chapter 62 Stunned, Unbelievable
Just moments ago, Ma Boyang was arrogant and cocky, but now, facing the pH test results in Lin Chen's hand, he turned pale and trembled.
"Mr. Lin, there's definitely something wrong with this value. It's not like that. There must be a misunderstanding. Oh, there's definitely something wrong with this batch of water today. It rained heavily a few days ago, and I guess some pollutants were washed in. It has absolutely nothing to do with my water station."
Ma Boyang is still struggling, showing no sign of giving up until he reaches the Yellow River.
It's okay?
Looking at the other party's desperate struggle, Lin Chen found it utterly ridiculous: "Misunderstanding? Station Chief Ma, do I need to spell it out? Neutralizing the water quality with limestone, deliberately misleading the testing personnel to falsify samples, attempting to deceive everyone—what kind of behavior is this? At best, it's dereliction of duty; at worst, it's a crime."
"A crime?" The moment those two words left his mouth, Ma Boyang felt as if his spine had been pulled out. His legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground. He quickly clung tightly to the railing, his lips turning purple.
Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, Liang Xiaoyu calmly replied, "Lin Chen, don't spread alarmist rumors here. What crime or not? Even if the water is worth that much, it doesn't really prove anything."
"Because after the water from our Wushan water station leaves, it still goes to various levels of water towers and tanks, undergoing multiple layers of filtration and disinfection before finally being delivered to people's homes. The pH level is also continuously monitored to ensure there are no problems."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Ma Boyang echoed repeatedly, as if grasping at a straw. "We're at the source here. The water quality varies; it's not something we can control. The downstream treatment process is the key."
Lin Chen coldly glanced at the two of them, who were singing in unison, his contempt almost overflowing.
On the surface, Liang Xiaoyu's words seem correct. The company's water comes from the reservoir and goes through many processes such as processing, sterilization, filtration, and sedimentation before finally being transported to the water tower and entering thousands of households.
But Lin Chen knew the intricacies of the matter all too well.
How many processes does a water source with a pH of 5.2 need to go through to become qualified drinking water? This is indeed a question worth exploring.
When Lin Chen was taking the senior engineer exam, he read similar books. It was said that he would need to add three times the amount of alkali to neutralize the alkali, double the amount of flocculant, overload the filtration system to make it spin fast and smoke, and finally add a lot of chlorine to sterilize it.
This process increases the treatment cost to three to five times the original cost. To put it bluntly, this water is not qualified as a drinking water source at all. The cost is too high, and no water company is willing or able to pay for it.
Normally, the process involves simple filtration and disinfection. However, if the company fails to address the pH issue, regulations stipulate that the water station must be shut down immediately, and the water supply to the public must be stopped.
But the Wushan Water Station is the face of the company, the pride of Suicheng, and a stepping stone for General Manager Zeng's promotion. How could it be closed down so easily? Who dares to close it down? Who can close it down?
Lin Chen smirked and sneered, "Fine, since that's what you all say, I have no objection. I'll take all this data back with me so that the leaders and colleagues can see just how good the water source at our 'Star Water Station' really is."
Ma Boyang was stunned again, and pleaded in an almost begging tone: "Senior Engineer Lin, please have mercy on me. You can't take this data back with you. If you report this data, all 22 people at our water station will have worked for nothing this year, and we'll probably have nothing left."
Lin Chen's temper flared up instantly. Pointing her finger at his nose, she cursed, "You're hilarious! You think I'll let you off the hook? Who's letting whom off the hook? You let those clients off the hook! They paid to drink this lousy water! Where's your conscience? Did you eat it? You're still dreaming of getting promoted and making a fortune. You're utterly shameless!"
Yes, Lin Chen hasn't been angry in a long time. Even some people who were taking advantage of others at the water supply station weren't this angry.
Upon hearing this, Ma Boyang grinned, letting out a bitter, inhuman laugh: "Engineer Lin, don't portray me as some kind of heinous villain. I didn't cause this water quality issue. We're all from the same company. What you're saying doesn't really mean anything. Just because you're the company's Person of the Year or a favorite of Director Song doesn't give you the right to bully people like this."
What? I bullied you?
Lin Chen was truly dumbfounded. Who on earth was this person, twisting the truth like this? Were they just going to throw caution to the wind and do nothing?
"Comrade Ma Boyang, I bullied you? What did I do to bully you? You are the station chief of Wushan Water Station, and since the Wushan Water Plant started production four years ago, you have been the only station chief. If there is a problem with the water quality, who else should we turn to if not you?"
These words seemed to strike a nerve with Ma Boyang, who immediately became agitated: "I am indeed the sole station manager of the Wushan Water Station, so how can you blame me? The first day I took over the Wushan Water Station, the water quality here was like this, no, it was even worse than now. Before, it wasn't even 5.something, it was at least 4.something. Damn it, these past few years, I've worked hard and tirelessly, and I've already improved the water quality to 5.something. What more do you want?"
Damn, Lin Chen was dumbfounded. There was such a thing? Was this possible? Was this reasonable? Was there any justice? Was there any law?
If what he said is true, and the water quality at Wushan Water Plant was already like this when he took over, then how did it manage to pass round after round of expert inspections?
It's impossible that it wouldn't be detected. So how could it have been put into normal use? Even a few years ago, it didn't meet the requirements for production, let alone become one of the drinking water sources for the public.
Lin Chen knew he couldn't think about it anymore; he was overthinking things and going too far. These were things that a mere junior staff member like himself couldn't possibly understand.
Liang Xiaoyu, who hadn't spoken until now, spoke up again: "Hey Ma Zhan, why didn't you report this? The water quality has been like this for so many years, why didn't you report it? This is quite serious."
Indeed, that's a good question, a very insightful one. Director Liang, you're finally not just a tool anymore.
Ma Boyang: "Why didn't I report it? After I took over, I discovered the problem and immediately reported it to Liu Jianming, the former head of the project department. I've mentioned it several times, but he said it was a problem left over from the infrastructure construction. He said that he had already discussed and agreed with the construction team of the water station that there would be continuous funding and that they would continue to come and maintain and resolve the issue."
Several years ago, when our former leader Zeng Huihuang came to inspect the area, I reported it to him privately. However, he said we shouldn't publicize it and that he would handle it properly. After Director Zeng left, I stopped bringing it up because it was pointless.
It's numb, really numb.
Lin Chen became increasingly alarmed as he listened, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
According to him, Zeng Huihuang knew about the water quality of Wushan Water Plant, but does Song Jiehui know about it now? Does Tan Huasheng know about it? It's really hard to say, after all, Tan Huasheng was Zeng Huihuang's lackey back then.
As for Liu Jianming, he has now gone to the city company. When Zeng Huihuang arrived at the city company, he immediately pulled Liu Jianming over. They are truly good brothers.
Moreover, strictly speaking, Liu Jianming is not a member of Xinhai Water Group Company; he is merely the boss of a subsidiary company that specializes in engineering projects for Xinhai Company.
The goal of building a new water station (water plant) is to put it into operation with zero defects.
However, in many cases, due to the need to meet deadlines and achieve certain performance targets, there are also objective limitations that make it impossible to do so.
The last shift always involves negotiating with the construction team to put the project into operation first and then address any defects. This is perfectly reasonable and meets the needs of current development. However, the defects must not be matters of principle.
Water quality issues are absolutely a violation of the bottom line.
Liang Xiaoyu pressed further, "Did the construction company actually come to perform any water quality maintenance?"
"I come every year," Ma Boyang said with a wry smile. "But the results... as you've seen, the reservoir is so big, and the water flow is very strong. Usually, after maintenance, the pH level can reach 6.12 for a month or two, but then it goes down again. You've come at a bad time this time; it's been several months since the last maintenance, and now is when the water quality is at its worst, so I had someone do some tampering... I didn't want to."
Hearing this, Lin Chen was no longer so angry; in fact, he felt much calmer. This matter was similar to the water quality problem in Meihua Village that he had reported to the Balu Water Supply Station.
However, Plum Blossom Village has become Wushan Water Station.
How many years and how many times have we raised the issue of renovating the small Meihua Village water tower? In the end, it was only this year that we started to address it.
He estimated that solving the water quality problem at the Wushan water station would not be so simple; the water in this pool was deeper than he had imagined.
Ma Boyang, a mere station manager, was often powerless. Who became the station manager was entirely up to someone else; if you didn't obey, someone would replace you in a heartbeat.
Very few people are able to escape the cage of power, and humans are indeed soft-bodied creatures, with a shell around their bodies. When people are forced to live in this narrow shell, they can easily become distorted.
Lin Chen knew he couldn't forget the hardships of those at the grassroots level just because he couldn't become a commissioner. He just felt a little regretful and sighed, because this was a national model of civilization.