Last summer it was brought to our attention that the hot water needed to run the dishwasher in the Ēdamzale was not sufficient. During heavy usage our water heater could not keep up with the demand from the dishwasher, which ultimately caused the heater’s booster to kick out, since it could not sustain the desired temperature.
In order to remedy our situation we contacted the manufacturers of the dishwasher and booster, CMA Dishmachines and Hatco, and requested recommended temperature and volume for these particular models. It was at this time that we discovered that our dishwasher was incorrectly configured and that we were trying to run our low temperature system as a high temperature system. This turned out to be a very bad idea since low temp systems us chemicals to sanitize while high temp systems use heat. This resulted in us not sanitizing properly and overburdening our water heater which explains why we kept having issues.
Our solution was to remove the existing non-commercial water heater and booster and replace them with two cascading, tankless water heaters that can provide enough volume at the recommended temperature to keep up with the dishwasher and the rest of the kitchen. We partnered with a local provider, Olympic Heating and Cooling, to install our new system and to relocate the existing water heater by replacing it for the aging one in the laundry room.
Over the past couple of years we have replaced the water heaters most frequently used. Based on their age they served us well and our hope is to get a least 15 years with the new ones. At WCLEC/RKLIC we are always looking to maintain and improve our facility which is only possible through our supporter donations and volunteering.
Kārlis Grendze
Board Chairman
Editor’s note: The new Ēdamzale water heaters are just one example of how we use your contributions to improve the quality of services we provide. To learn more about how you can help support us, both directly and indirectly, please check out the Support Us page!