At a remote desert camp, Emek and Tara discovered that the water system was delivering an unreliable supply. The control panel gave two settings to correct. For the pumping rate p, the balance equation was 3(p - 4) + 2p = 36. Tara simplified the linear equation and found p = 9.6 liters per minute. The storage controller required a different approach: its setting s satisfied s^2 - 14s + 40 = 0. Emek recognized that the quadratic could be factored as (s - 4)(s - 10) = 0, giving settings of 4 or 10. However, the tank manual required s to be greater than 6 to maintain enough reserve water, so they rejected 4 and selected 10. They substituted both chosen values back into the original equations and confirmed that they worked. With the pump set to 9.6 liters per minute and the storage setting at 10, the system balanced consumption and reserve needs. Water flowed steadily again, allowing the expedition to continue.