The wot hotter heater has been fixed [1], amid curses from the plumber. He installed a new unit (top of the line—hey, we weren't paying for it) yesterday (“I'll give you hot water if I have to stay here and heat it myself with a match!”) but had to return today to reroute an ill placed piped so it would pass inspection if it ever came to that. He said that the original installation, bad as it was, was probably done that way to save a measly $20 or so during building.
$20.
Spring [2] and Wlofie [3] both said that the original savings of $20 then is now costing the Rental Office big bucks. But I cynically replied that the original company is no longer the owner [4]. In fact, the company that built this play may not have been the company we rented these units from, so who knows who palmed that $20 (possibly per unit, and there are several hundred units).
So things are pretty much back to status quo here at the Facility in the Middle of Nowhere.
And I hope it stays that way.