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Posted by Bud...Suncoast Plumbing Inc on November 14, 1998 at 21:45:03:

Tim:-- this is a copy of a post to a gentleman that had a problem very similar to the one in your post...Hope it is a help to you

Your water heater may last another 10 years if given reasonable treatment and a little TLC. The stuff that you see coming from your tank when you try to drain it, is not a disitegrating anode; it is Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates mostly as well as other minerals disolved in the water in your area of the country.
First thing to do is get rid of that rediculous plastic so called drain valve, and install a valve
that will actually allow some of crud that has been accumulating in the bottom of your heater for the last seven years. Get a 3/4" galvanized or brass nipple about 3" long, a 3/4"MIP x 3/4" male hose adapter and a 3/4" full flow ball valve and install it in the bottom of your heater. You'll probably get enough sand out of the heater resurface your driveway. The heater will run more efficiently and quieter when all the minerals that precipitate out of the water are finally gone. Next thing to do is learn to live with water that never exceeds 135 degrees F.
The higher the temperature of the water( and quantity of Chlorine in it) the higher will be the deposition of minerals in the bottom of the heater. Make it a practice to purge the accumulation of minerals from the tank on a regular basis and keep the temp at a safe and sane setting and your tank may one day be in the "Guiness Book of Records" for its' long and full life. Lots of luck...Bud.

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