"Phat Phuq" wrote in message
...

"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
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Phat Phuq wrote:
Hi,

My sister in law was complaining about reddish brown water coming out of
her hot water tank and asked me to have a look at it. I naturally
assumed that the liner had cracked and the tank was rusting. However,
when I flushed the tank, I noticed a lot of slimy, orange/red colored
scum particles in the water.

Sis indicated that she doesn't use a lot of hot water and has a 11 year
old 40 gal tank which was set to high, so I'm thinking that the built up
a layer of algie and is now starting to let go. I still haven't ruled
out a cracked liner (the algie was reddish orange), but the anode looks
like it's doing it's job properly and the tank isn't leaking yet.

I've turned down the water temp and encouraged the sis to use more hot
water to help keep the buildup down, but my question is, can I use
anything to help clean out the tank? I'm thinking it needs another
flushing or two, but I'd like to get as much of the gunk out as
possible.

thx

(:P(:P



If her water source is a well, GOOGLE for "Iron bacteria".
It produces a slimy sludge like that.

Jim

I'm suspecting the bacteria thing is true.
We live in Winnipeg, MB and our water source is Shoal Lake. There is a
good chance of a reasonable amount of iron in the water from feeder pipes.



Most bacteria is killed off by 140 F. turning it down won't help. Maybe
you have some of that stuff they find in hot springs at yellowstone

Since you can get the anode off (wow on an 11 YO tank) I suppose you could
put some bleach in that hole then flush. If the cold water is not
discolored, its not directly from the source