Hotel and golf resort, Western Australia
The problem
Because of the high calcium in the water surrounding the Perth area, lime scale is a major problem. The Vines Golf Resort maintenance dept deals with equipment failures or replacements due to lime scale on an ongoing basis. Two stainless steel water tanks for the two steam combi ovens in the kitchen, are each replaced twice a year because of severe lime scale build up. A couple of years ago a new industrial dishwasher was installed. Its heating elements were covered in many millimeters of lime scale. A second dishwasher had a double coil heating element. The scale build up was so heavy, that it had formed a single block of scale, so that it could not be recognised as, two coils. This means it is costing a lot more to operate the machines, because lime scale is an insulator. Other limescale problems around the Hotel happen with appliances such as hot water heaters in guest rooms.
The Solution
Three rings were installed on the system. One ring was placed on the water main coming into the resort. A second was placed on the cold supply to the kitchen area and a third placed on the feed to the hot water boilers.
The Result
Within 3 weeks of installation the scale on the dishwashers had begun to soften and break down. The image at the top right, shows a dark patch on an element. This is where a steel wool dish pad had wiped away the softened lime scale. Kitchen staff were requested to continue using the chemicals in the daily cleaning cycle as always. 8 weeks later as shown in the above right image, it is clearly seen that the heating elements are spotlessly clean and show no signs of lime scale. lime scale remover chemical usage is not required any more. Lime scale staining.During the sixth and seventh week the chief engineer was on leave. When he came back he said that not only was he very happy that the lime scale had gone, but that he couldn't believe that the dishwasher was so shiny. Before the installation the entire dishwasher had a dullness to the outer surfaces and there was deep lime scale staining on areas such as around the door and the feed tray. See the images in the image Gallery. This dishwasher looks like new again and is once again, operating efficiently.
All machinery is operating efficiently again and there is no more lime scale build up in areas that are easily inspected.