I had brought this issue up back in October /13... Seems to be always something to keep us digging if you will.. A little History here, Drawing from a Well... Hard Water and that Beautiful Rust Stain on the Toilet Bowl & Tub... Moved in , house came with a Rented Potassium Water Treatment system.. Never worked right and no tech was able to do any better, had it removed.. Replaced the PWT with a +Plus Model Water Softener using the Windsor Rust Remover Salt , as well as a Reverse Osmosis system tied into the Kitchen Sink cold water... New System working fine , Salt takes approximately 5 weeks to desolve below the waterline if you will before having to add new salt.. Then last Summer the Hot Water Tank pooched... Had a New Tank installed complete with the aluminum anode rod... Problem now is , every time we go away for a couple weeks.. Come home turn on the Hot Water a Black Charcoal like substance comes pouring out the tap... It usually takes until all the hot water is gone before running clear...

Are we missing a Component in the Filtering Process or Should I be Draining off from the tap at the bottom of the HT Tank about every 2 months or so.. I've heard a fair amount of sediment settles at the bottom of the HT Tank..?

You should be flushing hot water heater once a month. Flushing means you leave the cold water feed on. Draining means you shut the feed off. The flushing will remove the sediment before it can do harm the heater. Flush until water is clear or at lest 2 minutes.

Good luck

Chuck

@ creamhands...10-4 on turning the Power Off to avoid burning out the Element... Thanks for the quick Comeback... Seeing as I have to top up the Salt in the Softener about every 5 weeks I'll just add Flushing the HW Tank at the same time...

How much iron did you have before filtering (in ppm)? Just curious.

Issues with Hardness & Rust Stains and the like are common throughout the area... And just like my neighbor we all have different filtering systems whether it be a water treatment system or an extra strength water softener...

Last Summer when our Hot Water Tank Pooched and with the Replacement I was searching the cause of the charcoal film... Discovering then the source was the HW Tank, I had arranged for a Tech from the WS people to come and do an onsite analysis..

The Iron & PH levels were well within the Acceptable Levels... The local Health Office is conveniently located so I religiously drop samples off for testing... In the 7 yrs we've been living in this home the results have always come back.. 0 coli / 0 E-coli...