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Two weeks had passed since I proposed my plans to my father. At first, he was reluctant to agree because of the disruption the renovation would cause, but after explaining that our home would be the prototype and, if successful, could be scaled up to the rest of the town.
This piqued his interest not only because of the convenience for the average citizen but also because of the prestige the town and family would gain if people from other counties saw that the entire town had clean running water. That was something that not even the capital could boast about.
But unfortunately, Dad was unwilling to begin full-scale renovation until I provided him with some proof of concept. This brings my parents and even grandparents gathered outside of my workshop.
"So this is the so-called water tower you mentioned?" Dad asked while looking up at the largest empty barrel I could find in town from the local tavern, mounted on a rickety-looking scaffolding one story above my workshop.
"Yup. The actual size would be a lot bigger. This is just proof of concept," I said as I followed Dad to walk around the water tower.
As we walked around, it was impossible to miss the copper pipe running from the top of the barrel, down the scaffolding, and off to a small shed the size of an outhouse that was built just next to one of the few wells on the estate's land.
"What is the building next to the well?" Dad asked as we made our way to it.
"That would be the pump room." I said as I opened the shed when we arrived to reveal a series of pipes neatly stacked on each other, and a small silver panel attached on top with a low-grade mana crystal embedded in it, all of which were engraved in runes with the air enchantment. "This is the pump that draws water from the well and uses air enchantments to push air in a single direction toward the water tower. As for the enchantments, I had to get creative to make the mana draw low enough that even the house staff can charge the mana crystal to keep the pump going for half an hour or so, hence the multiple pipes with weak enchantments working in tandem."
That said, this is a great opportunity for a demonstration. Last I checked, my water tower is half full. Mum, would you do the honor of powering up the pump? Simply use it like any other enchanted device and fill it with mana until the mana crystal is full." I said to Mum, and she obliged by placing her hand on the silver panel to fill it with mana.
The moment mana powered the pump, it shook with the vibration of agitated water being pushed through it, and soon the pipe leading to the water tower trembled with water flowing through it. It did not take her ten seconds until Mum most likely felt resistance to the mana she was pouring into the pump that she realized that the mana crystal was full. "Wow, half an hour, you said?" Mum commented. "For the house staff with a small mana pool, after an hour or two, they would be able to power this again."
That's the idea, and half an hour of pumping water into that barrel is overkill. There will be overflow. I just didn't have time to configure any flow regulation into the enchantment; that's something to add in a future iteration, I commented as I waved my family over to my workshop.
When we entered, I directed them to the corner with a single faucet over a porcelain sink before turning a simple butterfly valve tap, allowing the water to flow freely. Honestly, the faucet and butterfly valves were among the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of the project, mainly because of the tight tolerances and the lack of rubber to create a proper seal.
As a substitute for rubber, I commissioned the local alchemist to invent one, and what she came up with was some kind of concoction made from tree sap and other ingredients that are mixed, poured into molds, and left to dry. The end product is something like rubber but slightly sticky to the touch. What we do not know is how durable it is when constantly wet and under pressure. Only time will tell, but it has yet to give out on me… then again, it has only been a few days since it was put together and in use.
"What is this one for?" Grandma asked as she reached for a faucet lower to the floor and next to the sink with a narrower nozzle, and I had to gently grab her hand to stop her from turning it on.
"That is mainly to fill buckets if needed. And the narrow nozzle is to attach a hose," I said as I nudged a bucket under the faucet with my foot.
"What is a hose?" Grandpa asked.
Shit! They don't have those around here.
"Oh, just something I thought up. Think of it as a flexible pipe. I plan to have it connect to the faucet and spray water further away from the water source." I quickly rambled as I hurried my family out the back door of the workshop.
There, slightly away from the workshop, was an outhouse with a prototype of my porcelain throne. I would have loved to break it in, but I did not want to defile the demonstration prototype. Instead, I tossed a few knotted-up rags into the toilet bowl to simulate waste matter, pulled the chain of the water tank above to flush, and it worked like a dream.
After showing how the water tank refills itself and letting them have their fun flushing, I led them some distance away to a wooden manhole cover on the ground, and I opened it to reveal a two-meter-wide by two-meter-tall pit of magically compressed stone.
And inside that pit was water from the sink and toilet, along with the rags I flushed. But they weren't the only things in that pit. Glomping on those rags that I flushed was a subspecies of slime that is found in the drains of bigger cities, or more commonly known as Gutter Slimes.
Gutter slimes were scavengers of human civilization, especially in towns and cities with poor hygiene caused by dumping excrement in back alleys. These slimes would clean up any remaining organic waste and leave behind a dark brownish-black substance that was prized as fertilizer, but it was just too tedious to gather.
I still haven't fully figured out the water purification process yet, but given time, I'm sure I will. So, what do you think?" I asked with my best salesman smile.