This came out of my water heater!!

I hope someone has seen something like this and can offer a suggestion as to what it is. Hate to think this is only in my tank!

Flushed the tank today. This is my first full flush of this tank since it was installed in 2000. Yes, still going strong and I hope I haven't jinxed it by talking about it. I flushed the tank because I was getting slow flow in the kitchen faucet. Took apart lines and found a lot of white "plasticky" pieces clogging up filters and such.

Anyway, the first thing that came out of the hose into the bucket was in the first picture. They are about 1/4" diameter and wrapped like a cigar. Very dark brown in colour. They have kind of broken apart as I took them out of the bucket. There is a faint odour of organic matter. The second picture shows them a bit dried out. Think hamster, rabbit pellets for shape.

All in all the flush went well with very little sediment coming out. Water ran pretty clear after the flush. Any thoughts on these "leavings"?

Ive seen all sorts of stuff come out of tanks nothing just like this. Looks like it could be build up off a heating element or the anode rod. I imagine if it was a major issue you would have found out a different way like some one getting sick. But if it was my house Id have the water tested just to be sure. Build up in w/h tanks is very common but its always one of those better be safe then sorry. Mostly likely its normal build up and the whole reason behind flushing the tank is to get this stuff out on a regular basis.

The white particles are a sign of the dip tube breaking down.

The white particles may also be calcium.

The black material. Is it greasy/smear when you rub it between your fingers?

Damn heater mice pooping in the tank

Thanks for the replies!

No, I wouldn't say it was greasy/smeary when I first pulled it out. I noticed layers coming off as I removed it from the bucket and it retained its shape. And, now that it has dried out it is, as I mentioned, like a rolled cigar. You can almost unroll it, layer by layer and it is very dry and powdery and easily stains your fingers. I want to say its some kind of paper? Another thing that stands out is its shape. I mean perfectly round and long like it came through a play-doh press.

Unless you have a ball valve type drain I suspect that maybe it was in the hose you used. I can't imagine that stuff come through a typical drain cock on a water heater.

But if it did come out of the WH, that does seem very unusual

Here is a Tech Article article- -Hot Water Heater Anodes & Dip Tubes-

There are several referring URLs throughout the article which will explain the possible contamination problem(s).

Dip tubes and anodes are not the same part in many water heaters. They a two separate items.

Do you have a well? Could be signs of tannins

I wonder if that material is from the anode rod?

Mr_David, I hope it's the hose I used!! However, I don't think so because it's a 3/4" hose so how would those things form in the hose in the size they came out? But come to think of it could it be a nesting bug of some sort that built something in the hose? Baffling. Guess I should have checked the hose first but I don't know if I would want to meet the guy that does that!! I don't have a ballcock valve-just the standard job they put on these units.

SHE-PLMBR No well, city water (which has won awards, so they tell us!). Did a test for water hardness for a new dishwasher we bought and it showed pretty hard water.

This is basically rust or the lining rusting then peeling off the walls of the heater near the top of the tank. Then flakes off into the water. The Diod thing needs to be replaced, or the entire tank. Any good water heater has a 7-10 year life span, Yes I know you can have 10+ water heaters, but these are the problems you see.

I've seen on TV , I think on TOH episode, the home owner had 1.5 foot deep of sand in the bottom of his tank. All that heat wasted trying to heat the sand, then the water! And the fact they lost 1/3 capacity!!!

Thanks pcride. The rust explanation makes sense, now that I think of it: smell, texture, colour. Would you like to take a whack at explaining the shape of it?

I have been thinking about changing out the anode rod and dip tube but is it worth doing on a 15+ year old tank?

What it looks like to me is the flat lining rolled up and curled is all... again I am sure its the lining/rust of the tank inside. At 15 yrs your best just getting a new tank. You would be surprised how much better and efficient new heaters are. I replaced our 2001, 2 years ago with an AO Smith 50 Gal and has a 90 min recovery on the first cycle of the tank. Plus we got the model which gives us the rebate. Take a look on your gas companys website (assuming you have gas) and see what type of rebates they offer, I believe mine was $50 and the water heater was $400 and I did the install. Make sure you use the double wall 4" vent, per code in most areas. The stuff is $$$ but worth it. Also I would suggest installing an expansion tank, which will prolong the life of the tank.

Mr_David said:

Unless you have a ball valve type drain I suspect that maybe it was in the hose you used. I can't imagine that stuff come through a typical drain cock on a water heater.

But if it did come out of the WH, that does seem very unusual

Click to expand...

I think you're going win this one.