Mold in a dishwasher

[Ryan Judah]

We have a tenant that says her dishwasher has mold in it.  She said she has used bleach to take care of it but that it keeps coming back.  After checking things out, the dishwasher doesn't have a 'moldy' smell to it but she was shown where else to clean to help gunk from collecting.  

Today, we got an email from her stating 'I wanted to reach out and let you know both my daughter and I have been getting really sick recently and I am start in to put two and two together that it is the mold in the dishwasher. I need it to be replaced. I have consistently cleaned it out and it grows back and this is a serious health issue.'

How would you handle this?  Replace the dishwasher?  How do we know that the dishwasher is causing them to become ill?  She's been in the apartment since July. 
 

[Jeff Bridges]

This doesnt make sense. The dishwasher is connected to the hot water line. Hot water is used to wash and sanitize the dishes and all items inside of the dishwasher tub. So if there was mildew inside the DW, it would be immediately killed upon running a new cycle. It does not return because everything inside is santized from both the soap and the hot water. Is there a heated dry cycle? I would recommend they turn that feature on as well, which would add a third piece to drying out the interior after each run. Are the dishes clean after each cycle? If so, there is enough water going through. The only mold you have to worry about is if the unit was leaking outside the appliance, which does not appear to be the case. How old is the dishwasher? is this a modern unit or over 10 years old? I wouldnt even call a repair tech because I dont believe anything to be immediately wrong. If No leak and clean dishes, I wouldnt immediately replace. Are they thinking they are breathing in mold from the dishwasher? I'm not sure what they mean when they say they are getting sick...