Anybody who has small children running around the house always worries about them either getting burned by a stove or by hot water.Your water heater is the source of the heat and most people assume that turning down the water heater to a tepid temperature will solve that.
Your just adding another risk to your entirely family by doing that. Because of the risk of Legionnaires’ disease (LEE-juh-nares) caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella. This was named back in the 70′s when a group of people went to a Philadelphia convention meeting for the American Legion suffered an outbreak from this bacteria, It’s a form of pneumonia. of course it has been around for who knows how long before then, modern medicine seems to be able to identify it better now though.
Your water heater is actually not even designed to operate below 140°. The main reason is this bacterial danger and the only sure fire way to control your water heaters temperature is with the use of a thermostatic mixing valve. American water heater manufacturers are allowed a variance of plus or minus 15° on their control valves making it impossible to be used to regulate the water heaters temperature any way.
In Atlanta I have not seen one water heater in a residential house that has a thermostatic valve installed. Commercial buildings require one and residential dwellings should as well. Not only to prevent the bacteria ,but also to prevent the scalding hazard in your home too. You can purchase several retro fit devices for older homes to equip your dated three handle and single handle shower valves and lavatory and kitchen faucets too. Any new valve you purchase and have installed in your house will have anti scald built in,however this does not address the water heater bacteria issue. Watts and Honeywell produce reasonably priced thermostatic valves for residential applications at a reasonable price. Ask your plumber to check pricing you cannot purchase this at Home Depot or Lowes.
Because of the seriousness associated with this it is advisable for you to protect your family by having a plumbing service come out and add these components to your plumbing system. Modern plumbing design and the technological advances in tempering control devices provide no excuse for a responsible parent to ensure the health and welfare of their children by being aware of these things. Many people have fell ill from the Legionella and still do to this day from the negligence of slumlords and the ignorance of the average person not to mention the thousands of small children that are burned everyday.
If you live in Atlanta you have no excuse because some of the best trained and experienced service plumbers are right under your nose. So take advantage of the resources you have available and get it fixed before somebody gets sick or burned.
