Commercial ice machine repair and descaling

The Salt Lake hard water problem

Salt Lake City's Department of Public Utilities reports total hardness between 121 and 487 mg/L in its 2025 water quality report, which works out to roughly 7 to 29 grains per gallon. Murray City publishes a range of 81 to 463 mg/L averaging 194. Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which supplies much of the south valley wholesale, puts its own water at 170 mg/L or 10 grains per gallon before cities blend it with local wells.

The spread matters more than any single figure. These utilities draw from several sources and the mix shifts with the season, so the same building can be on noticeably harder water in September than it was in April.

Ice machines are essentially scale factories: they freeze pure water and leave every dissolved mineral behind in the sump. At the soft end of that range the manufacturer's six-month cleaning interval is defensible. At the hard end it is nowhere near enough, and the machine tells you by lengthening its harvest cycle and dropping production.

Which is why we would rather test the water at your building than quote a schedule off a city average. A hardness test takes a few minutes and settles the interval properly.

Common symptoms and causes

• Low ice production. Scale on the evaporator, a dirty condenser, low charge, or inlet water temperature that has crept up.
• Cloudy, soft or fast-melting cubes. Mineral content and a sump that needs cleaning. Also the first thing a customer notices in a drink.
• Machine runs but never harvests. Harvest valve, water level sensor, or a scaled plate the ice will not release from.
• Slime or pink film in the bin. Biofilm, which is a health-inspection finding rather than a housekeeping detail.
• Machine cycles on and off rapidly. Bin thermostat or level control, often a cheap part.
• Water leaking under the unit. Drain, sump seal, or an overflowing bin drain.

Cleaning, sanitation and inspections

Ice is a food product under Utah's food code, and ice machines are a routine inspection point. A machine with visible biofilm in the bin, a scaled evaporator or a bin scoop stored inside the ice is a finding waiting to happen.

Scheduled cleaning produces documentation as well as a clean machine. We leave a dated service record you can hand an inspector.

Brands we service

Manitowoc, Hoshizaki, Scotsman, Ice-O-Matic, Follett, Cornelius and Koolaire, in cube, half-dice, nugget and flake configurations, including remote and air-cooled condensers.

Service area

We cover Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Summit and Weber counties. Same-day dispatch valley-wide, 2-hour target on refrigeration emergencies.

• Salt Lake City
• West Valley City
• Sandy
• Draper
• West Jordan
• South Jordan
• Murray
• Midvale
• Millcreek
• Taylorsville
• Lehi
• American Fork
• Park City
• Ogden
• Provo
• Orem