I have a 7 year old water heater that just started leaking around the bottom. I noticed the leak after I shut the water main off to replace a toilet upstairs. It's in the basement on a concrete floor. The thing is the leak isn't constant. I noticed it after running the shower but after turning off the shower the leak stops and the small puddle dries up. Is it the tank or too much water pressure? Or what? Thanks for any help you can give. Barry

If its leaking consider it a warning to replace it... one day soon its not going to be a little leak and its not going to stop. And you may not be home when it happens. Assuming the water is actually coming from the water heater itself.

Put a bucket under the pipe coming down the side from the T&P valve at the top. The valve could be leaking do to too high pressure,temp pro just juke in the seal. If it is not coming from this pipe your on/off leak will soon be on only and then you are in a rush to replace. Do not think of trying to repair a leak in the tank

Hi all...

I'd put the bucket under the T&P valve piping as mentioned by Ballenger and see if water shows up in the bucket. If the T&P valve leaks then you will want to replace the T&P valve with a new one... buy some teflon tape for the threads, too.

Here, it is possible that when you turned the water main back on the surge in pressure may have disturbed the seal at the valve. Now, when you take a shower or use other fixtures(?) the seal weeps and causes issues you see. With any luck that is the case and you can get some more time from that heater.

If it does turn out to be the T&P valve you still have a water heater that is getting up in years so it may not be a bad idea to purchase a cheap WATER ALARM and place it next to the water heater so you can get some kind of warning when the water heater does let go... :) They are available at home depot and Lowe's.

If it is not the T&P valve check the drain at the bottom of the heater... if leaking here you can purchase a boiler drain cap and cap this off to fix. Finally, check out the pipes/tappings at the top of the heater for leaks, too... can leak here, too. Otherwise, it's time to replace that heater...

Back to you

Mark

Do you know what the water pressure is that enters your house? Do you ave a sprinkler system on a backflow preventer installed? Is there a expansion tank installed on your water heater? Any banging in the pipes when you turn them on or off?
Gas or electric water heater? Back to you, Tom