Connection to drain valve?

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Boognish

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I live in an area where it seems that we get a fair amount of sediment in the water. As such, I was considering adding a simple sediment filter inline and attempting to exclude the hose bibs. I've been nosing around my basement trying to see if this is possible (it is not). However, I did come upon something that appears to be rather strange and I thought I'd see if I was nuts or if what has been done is normal.

The meter is in a closet about 15 feet from a utility/furnace room where the hot water tank is (GE SmartWater FWIW). There is a 3/4 copper line going from the meter to the tank, a 3/4 copper line coming back to the closet which feeds the laundry and (presumably) kitchen and likely a bathroom down the line. However, there is also a 3rd 1/2 copper line that feeds off of the tank drain that looks like it's going to the kitchen or that other bathroom. So my question is why in the world would someone make a connection to the drain to feed a line? I thought that the drain was just to be used as a drain for flushing? Is this some sneaky way to take water out of the bottom of the tank and prevent sediment buildup or is this just a crappy job that some hobo did.
Overall the plumbing system of the house is sound, it doesn't look like amateur hour in here so I don't think this is a homeowner job. However, I am still puzzled why someone would run a whole line to the drain back to a closet where there is a 3/4 connection already. Why not just use the 3/4 line with a T to feed the final tap?
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Reach4

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Probably a recirculation line to give fast hot water. It may be gravity run such that hot water rises, and the cold sinks to re-enter the heater where your photo shows.
 

Boognish

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Thanks for the reply; this does make a certain amount of sense since even in the bathroom furthest from the tank, the water never takes more than a few seconds before I have hot. I've lived in smaller homes where it took ages to get anything resembling hot water. I always presumed that it was because this house has proper insulation unlike my old hovel. Learn something new every day.

Thanks!
 

Jadnashua

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All insulation does is slow down the loss of heat...water sitting overnight in the pipes will be ambient temperature unless you're recirculating it to keep it warm pretty much regardless of whatever insulation you might use (well, an aerogel might keep it warm, but you can't buy any!). Depending on the pipe layout, it could cool off in as little as 15-minutes or less, quicker in the winter than in the summer.
 
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