Commerce City is one of the few places in the metro where the water is softened before it reaches your tap.
Commerce City water heaters at a glance
| Water provider | South Adams County Water & Sanitation District: local wells blended with Denver Water, plus a separate non-drinking irrigation system |
|---|---|
| Water hardness | Softened at the Ennis plant to about 7 grains per gallon (115 mg/L) since 2021. Irrigation water isn't softened. |
| Homes | Median year built 2005, while the older core around Rose Hill and Adams City dates to the 1950s |
| Elevation | About 5,161 feet (USGS reference point) |
| For your water heater | Moderate scale. A yearly flush and an anode check every few years keep a tank close to its rated life. |
Sources: Ennis Water Softening Facility · Census ACS 2019–2023 via Point2Homes · USGS elevation. Checked October 2026.
What Commerce City's water does to a water heater
When water is heated, the calcium and magnesium in it drop out as sediment and settle on the bottom of the tank. The burner or lower element then has to heat through that layer, so the heater runs longer, pops and rumbles, and wears faster. South Adams County Water & Sanitation softens its water at the Ennis plant to about 115 mg/L (7 grains per gallon), and has since 2021. Moderate scale. A yearly flush and an anode check every few years keep a tank close to its rated life.
An old core and newer neighborhoods
Commerce City has two very different sets of houses. In the older core around Rose Hill and Adams City, water heaters sit in basements and utility rooms with decades of plumbing around them, and the shutoff and connectors usually get replaced with the heater. In the newer neighborhoods, most homes date to the 2000s, so the original water heaters are at or past the typical 8 to 12 years. The district's plant softening takes the edge off sediment, but at about 7 grains the water is still moderately hard.
Repair or replace?
Under about eight years old, with a failed part like a thermocouple, gas valve, heating element, or thermostat, a repair usually makes sense. At about ten years or older, or with any leak from the tank itself, replacement is the better money: a leaking tank can't be fixed. You get the price before any work starts, and most replacements are done the same day they're quoted, with the old unit hauled away. A replacement is also the time to check whether you need an expansion tank (when one is required).
Gas or electric, tank or tankless
We repair and replace both gas and electric water heaters, standard tanks and tankless units. Tankless works well at this hardness. Descale it about once a year so scale doesn't choke the heat exchanger.
At about 5,161 feet (Commerce City's USGS reference point), a gas water heater has to be rated for the altitude, and a tankless heater set for it at installation. Rinnai and Navien change their tankless settings at 5,400 feet, and elevations vary across the city, so the setting should match your address. What to check at altitude.
Make the next one last
- Flush the tank once a year to clear sediment
- Check the anode rod every few years
- Descale a tankless unit about once a year
- Know where the cold-water shutoff on top of the heater is, and how to turn the heater off, before you need to
More reading: water heater leaking? what to do, no hot water troubleshooting, how long water heaters last in Colorado, why a water heater pops or rumbles, and water hardness by city. If your water is hard, a softener protects the heater and every fixture.
Recent water heater work
Photos from our own jobs. Locations and customer details are left out.
More in Commerce City: backflow testing in Commerce City · all plumbing services in Commerce City