My hot water heater's pressure release valve is leaking. It basically just a small constant stream that leaks out usually AFTER a shower is taken. It doesn't stop for a while so the puddle can be pretty large. If my terminology is wrong I found a picture of a hot water heater: http://danielsoil.com/images/Hot%20w...lustration.jpg
Number 54 would be the valve I'm talking about.
It's leaking from the opening. My question is could I replace the valve or possibly do something else to fix it or do I need a knew water heater?

Sw, the good news is you don't need a new water heater. After a period, PRV's can build up calcium and other minerals or the spring which opens and closes the valve, becomes weak. You can try opening the valve and flushing it for a few seconds, but I've never had much success with that.

More than likely, you'll need to cut your pop off line, and unscrew the old PRV and install a new one. You can purchase a new PRV at any home store or local plumbing supply store for a minimal price.

You will need a pipe wrench and teflon paste or tape to seal the new PRV. Depending on what kind of pop off line you have, will determine what you'll need to cut and then couple the line back together.

Those valves can be a pain. Once opened, often they must be replaced. How old is everything and did it work OK for a long time? Any changes like the city adding a backflow preventer? Taking a shower leaves the bottom of the tank full of cold water and the heat on. The cold water expands and the excess has to go somewhere. In the past, it went back out the outlet. Many cities are adding back flow preventer s in response to the new codes. If you have one of them, you must have an expansion tank.

For another possible cause, see https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/plumbi...ple-54037.html

It's about six years old, maybe less. I doubt it's anything else other than a broken PRV considering the problem started when someone in my house was down there messing with it, possibly moving the lever. So, I'm going to replace it. Thank you very much.

Smack their fingers if they get near it again. Some suggest regularly testing it, but get the least little bit of dirt in it, and you end up replacing it.