jamesgang wrote:
On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:13:52 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:07:11 AM UTC-4, jamesgang wrote:

On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 1:38:17 AM UTC-4, wrote:



I live in the country and have a well. My water is hard and has iron,







but tastes good and does not clog pipes. The worst problem is that







orange ring in the toilet that I have to clean every so often. I can







live with that, compared to what is happening in a close by town.















The town has a large deep well that fills two water towers. From there







it's piped to the homes and businesses. Apparently that water is coming







from a source that contains lots of calcium rock. What is happening is







that people in town have to replace their water heaters every few years







because the heaters can and do completely fill with calcium deposits.















A friend in town called me last week to ask why his hot water is only







warm and not hot. I went there and tested the elements in this 3 year







old electric water heater. The lower element was dead. We bought







another element, and I proceeded to shut off the cold water, and







electricity to the tank, then attempt to drain the tank. The water came







out of the drain valve drip by drip. I tried to remove the plastic







valve from the tank, but it would not budge, and I hesitated to try







harder in fear of breaking it off. I suggested we get pails and just







remove the element and catch the water in the pails. This element was







very stubborn to remove, but it finally came out. What I found inside







the tank was shocking. The entire lower element was buried in calcium







sludge, and the electrode part of it. had broken off and remained inside







this sludge in the tank.















I grabbed a long thick screwdriver and began to dig out this sludge,







which eventually allowed to water to exit the tank faster. The water







looked more like milk in color. I asked him several times about the age







of the tank, and he insisted it was 3 years old. He finally went and







got the paperwork for the tank and showed me the receipt which showed it







was actually 3-1/2 years old. I was shocked. I've worked on tanks that







were 20 years old and never seem so much crud in them (in other cities







and towns).















The decision was to dig out as much of this sludge as possible, and







install the new element until he can afford a new water heater. This







worked for now, but is not the ideal fix. Just for the heck of it, I







phoned a local plumber, and asked him is this is a common problem in







this town. He said that closeto half of his calls are due to water







heaters that are filled with sludge, and need to be replaced. He said







most water heaters last 5 years at most.















My reason for posting this message is because I'm wondering if there is







anything that can be done to filter out this calcium before it gets into







the water heaters? I know little about water softeners, but from what I







do know, they are more intended for hard water, which would be more what







my water is, with the iron in it. Whether they will remove calcium is







something I dont know, particularly when the calcium levels are so high.















Is there anything else that can help this problem? I'm curious !!!















Lastly, I was thinking that when my friend gets a new water heater,







would it be possible to dump the old tank upside down to remove as much







of this sludge as possible from the pipe inlets, then to pour a gallon







of vinegar in the tank. Will the vinegar disolve and thus remove the







calcium? Or maybe a weak acid? It seems wasteful to trash a 3 year old







water heater if this sludge can be removed. Once he gets a new heater,







I'd like to take that old one and experiment to see what can clean it







out. I'm sure that tank could be used for many more years if that







calcium could be removed, and new elements installed.















I also think that the reason the lower element burned out was because of







that calcium coating it. The heat is not being dissipated fast enough







into the water and that sludge is acting like an insulation, which







caused the element to overheat and burn out. This is my opinion anyhow.















Has anyone successfully cleaned out a tank like this?















By the way, some of the water that did not go into the pail spilled on







the floor and it left a white coating on the floor after it dried, of







this calcium. It looks like chalk in many ways.







I'd suggest draining the new water tank every 3 months or so as a preventative measure. I suspect it's not all calcium.







Calcium will react with hydrocloric and muriatic acids. Lowes sells a fairly strong muriatic acid by the gallon if you want to try cleaning the old one. Vinegar is a very weak acid and you would need tons of it to make any progress. Be careful of any fumes.



First problem with that is that the acid will also react with the

metal tank. I would assume the tanks have some kind of coating,

eg galvanized?, but if it's anything that reacts with acid, then

you may not have much of a tank left.



Second problem is since the tank is buried in material, how much

acid is it going to take to dissolve it all. Which gets back to

problem #1. A lot of acid for a long time isn't going to be good

for the tank.

The tanks are typically lined with glass. Otherwise they would rust out too quickly. As long as you are careful not to physically damage the glass it's ok to try to clean a tank out. Acid solutions should not harm the glass. Not so sure about the elements but I would probably take those out. I suspect 90% of the accumulation can be broken up and rinsed out with a spray nozzle.

Hi,
No one there ever has water softener and iron remover??????