Yep - I just found oleaving the water on and draining through the valve on the bottom works great. But I had to drain a lot, almost the entire tank. There was still some sediment coming out but very little and the water was clear not brown. I don't think you ever get all the sediment out, but it will sink to the bottom of the tank and not be a problem. The immediate flushing of each faucet and shower right after that is highly recommended also, as there was still a lot of residue in the lines, but be sure to take the head/silt screen off each faucet first otherwise they will clog and you will have more to clean up. Tg

The problem is that you don't DRAIN the tank you FLUSH it out.
For long life and fewer troubles you should keep your heater clear of mineral build-up by FLUSHING NOT DRAINING on a regular schedule. Attach a hose to the boiler drain at the bottom of the tank. With the pressure on, open the boiler drain and let it run until the water runs clear. You will see a spurt of red,(rust) followed by white or yellow grains,(lime or calcium carbonate). This shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Do this monthly to keep it clear. Now flush out your hot water lines on ALL fixtures that are affected . Now pull each aerator and clean the screens. Be sure you put them back together the same way you took them out. Don't forget to flush it out every month. Your heater will thank you for it. Hope this helps and thank you for rating my answer, Tom

I have the same problem. I first turned the water supply off. Then I turned the gas off & drained my tank completely. Be sure to open the vent or release valve. Then I flushed the tank using cold water. I ran the cold water filling the tank about 1/4 of the way and draining over and over again until the water was pretty clear. I refilled the tank and turned the gas back on. The water is better but still looks cloudy especially in the tub. I may just invest in a new tank.

Hi Tom...

How old is the water heater?

What type of water do you have... soft or hard water?

If you have brown water that won't go away, the power flush is the first thing to try.

Another thing to try if the water heater isn't too old would be to replace the sacrificial ANODE ROD... could be all used up and need to be replaced. If this is the case, the brown color is rust and the tank tappings have already started to break down, but replacing the anode rod may still get you some more years from this heater.

See images below of a regular anode rod and an old, used up anode rod. The anode rod is either at a 1-1/8" or 1-1/16" nut at the top of the heater or it could be attached to the cold water nipple (see other image). They also sell a collapsible anode rod for installation in tight spots. It usually takes 2 strong men to remove the nutted type of anode rod.

Let me know what you think, OK?

Mark

Brown water water with odors in your water heater is a sign that you need one or more of the following things
1. a new anode rod
2. your heater is calcified (i.e) the white chunks which in turn cause you to turn up the heater. By doing this you create a "stratification layer" a layer of hot water that is not used and it becomes stagnant.

Solution depending on how old your heater is then you can flush it to get rid of the calcium, remove the hose drain on bottom and install a brass nipple and ball valve, replace the anode rod or get a new heater and do the maintenance every 6 months.


1. turn pilot down to vacation
2. hook up hose to heater
3. leave on the cold water and run the bottom drain until the hot wazter steam goes away or the water comes out cold
4inspect your burner flame to check for excessive sooting
Check t&p to see if it is leaking by
Close bottom drain and turn heater up to 120-130 or just past B on dial