Rusty water from heater

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neilw

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I have a 7 year old, 75 gallon AO Smith gas water heater that suddenly started giving out rust-colored water. Suddenly as in overnight. I drained and refilled it several times but the water color didn't clear up, so I had a plumber out. I was expecting him to say I needed to replace the entire heater, but he said it was the anode rod and was very sure about his diagnosis. The water heater is supplied with softened water if it matters.

I went ahead and had him change the rod, and sure enough the old rod was completely gone. The plumber's claim was that the rod had rusted through and bits of it were sitting at the bottom of the tank and would eventually dissipate. Honestly it sounded odd since I thought the anode rods didn't corrode into an orange color, but I went with it and had him put in a new rod.

So a few days later the water is as rusty as ever despite flushing the tank a few more times. Did I get a terrible diagnosis and do I need to go ahead and replace the entire heater?
 

Reach4

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How did you flush? At a minimum, drain completely. Turn the water back on full as quickly as you can to cause turbulence. Maybe 30 seconds or so. Repeat several times.

There are other techniques to flush better. Some put a 3/4 inch nipple instead of the drain valve temporarily. This presumes you can handle the water without a hose connected. You could insert a wand sold for the purpose to spray. You might consider sticking an electric pressure washer wand inside. I have not done that, and I cannot be sure that won't hurt something.

When I flushed, I pulled my anode. I alternated turning on the water to the WH with spraying a stream via the anode hole. I let it drain between times. Mine was on a well, and I got rocks and gunk. I had put in a powered anode earlier. I did not torque it down, and I had used Teflon tape (making sure that there was a good electrical connection when done).

Is it possible the new rust is coming in from the city because they just flushed their mains? That would have affected the cold also.

Don't forget to clean your faucet aerators and washing machine screens.

Your plumber is unusual, and I would keep him. Your misgivings are probably part of why most plumbers don't replace anodes frequently.
 
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neilw

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Thanks for the quick response. So you agree that it's probably the remnants of the old anode rusting?

I've done quite a bit of flushing since this has been going on for 4 days. I've completely filled and drained probably 8 times. After the full drain (I wait about an hour) I'll do a partial refill (about 30s, until a thin stream of water comes out of a faucet) and full drain 4-5 times before calling it a day. I work from home so I drain the tank in the morning then spend the next several hours doing partial flushes. The amount of rust is mind-boggling, since the water isn't any clearer now than when I started.

I'm on city water, but the cold water is completely clear. It sounds like I should just keep at it for a while. My wife agreed to stick with it for another week, then we'll throw up the white flag and consider replacing the whole thing. But that would run around 1.6k so we'd prefer to avoid if possible.
 

Reach4

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Thanks for the quick response. So you agree that it's probably the remnants of the old anode rusting?
I was thinking that what was coming out now was rust left over from before the new anode. Galvanized pipes may have contributed. But the rusting would have been mostly from the tank not protected by the anode rather than the anode itself rusting.
I'll do a partial refill (about 30s, until a thin stream of water comes out of a faucet) and full drain 4-5 times before calling it a day.
I would do the flushing with the water heater empty. You want to stir up particles. You want water moving fast. You need to wash out solids.
 

Jadnashua

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Unless you have galvanized fittings or piping, it sounds like the lining of the tank is shot. No amount of anode is going to help once the lining is shot...it will slow things down, especially if you maintain a good one in there all of the time, but once it is rusting enough to make the water look really bad, I do not think a new anode will resolve it. Boats, bouies, bridges, etc., all tend to have sacrificial anodes, but they still need to be repainted periodically. Can't do that to a water heater.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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you need anew water heater,, the rust is leaching through the glass liner and it will need
to be changed out someday soon

rusty-wh-draining.jpg
 
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