The plate heat exchanger has been widely used in water heating systems due to high efficiency, simple structure, and easy maintenance. However, the studies on the effects of fouling on the heat transfer performance under various operation and maintenance conditions are very limited in the open literature. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of fouling with calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) on the heat transfer characteristics of the plate heat exchanger under various operating and geometric conditions. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in the plate heat exchangers were measured under accelerated fouling conditions with $CaCO_3$ by varying geometric and operational parameters. The fouling resistance increased with the decrease in the flow rate, and the increase in the chevron angle and the concentration.