NorthPointe Christian Schools near Grand Rapids, Michigan, has grown from 90 students to over 1,250 across Pre-K to 12th grade. To keep pace with the needs of ever-expanding schools like Northpointe, Chicago Faucets has evolved to meet school safety needs with products like thermostatic mixers and touchless faucets.

Have you ever started your day thinking, “Ahh, coffee!” only to have it turn into “ouch!” as the steaming hot beverage hits the roof of your mouth? If so, you have experienced scalding. Luckily, the scald you experienced was (most likely) mild and, while quite painful, healed quickly and without the need for hospitalization or the prolonged medical treatment that is required for the nearly half a million people who experience scalding each year.

Scalding in the home or burns from hot liquids is dangerous to anyone, but is a particular concern to the youngest and oldest Americans. Plumbers are charged with protecting the health of the nation. Thus, plumbers can play a key role in reducing the risk, starting with homeowner education.

Scald protection valves are the last line of defense in protecting occupants from dangerously hot water in plumbing systems. Point-of-use mixing valves keep building occupants safe and enable a variety of important domestic hot water recirculation applications. How are designers using scald protection mixing valves to advance the broader topic of DHW recirculation?

Hot water has been around since man first harnessed the power of fire, but when at elevated temperatures, it is dangerous and even deadly. Today’s hot water heaters offer a diverse range of technologies that perform leaps and bounds ahead of their predecessors, but what temperature should they deliver?

When I first entered the trades in 1972, residential tank-style water heaters shipped with the aquastat set to approximately 140° F. Dishwashers had no need to incorporate a sanitizing cycle. Around 1977, water heater manufacturers were required to lower the aquastat temperature setting to approximately 120°, and now, dishwashers needed to incorporate a sanitizing cycle where rinse water in their reservoir was raised to 140° or higher.

Domestic hot water recirculation system design is a hot topic in our industry, for good reason. 

Many older commercial facilities today, especially larger, multi-story facilities with plumbing and mechanical systems that may date back 10 or 20 years, have domestic water systems with a consistency problem. 

Preventing scalding is indeed something that requires serious consideration.