Help. I bought a new home 14.5 years ago. Since then, I've had 6 (electric) water heater failures. My early heaters would leak at the top. Lately, the failures start with "brown water" thru the house at each hot water outlet which progressively gets darker. After replacing the heater, the water is clear. I've purchased quality name brand units with dual heating elements and even increased the total gallon capacity (now 80gal). I have a water softener ahead of the unit as well as a hot water recirculating pump (on a timer) to circulate the hot water through the long runs in the house. I drain the water heater once a year and flush it as well as remove and clean the heating elements. I started to do this around failure #4. I'm now getting light brown water at the taps so I know I'm facing #7 real soon! By the way, my neighbors to each side and across the street don't experience this problem.
- posted
17 years ago