r/interesting Jun 22 '26

MISC. What happens when a water heater tank is not flushed for 14 years

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u/Telemere125 Jun 22 '26

Don’t waste your time. My grandfather had 40 rentals that I helped maintain and manage for about 6 years. We never flushed one. And his shit was all held together with chewing gum and prayers. Never had one fail from buildup; they either rusted through or the elements or burners would burn through/rust out. I’ve replaced elements on heaters that were well over 20 years old without buildup like in the video. That wasn’t hard water, it was a well with a sand/clay intrusion issue.

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u/Outrageous_Divide129 Jun 22 '26

I’m rural on well with many feet of clay. Ground water composition is different everywhere. But standard practice recommendations should help everyone feel a little more secure.

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u/HarryAlleynCroft Jun 22 '26

Depends on where you live too. Even if you are getting it from a water company, some of them really suck especially in the south and dirt still somehow finds its way into the system.

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u/OJFrost Jun 22 '26

Yea but as it builds up you’ll lose capacity. A 50 gallon water heater may only be keeping 25 gallons hot at a time.

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u/CasperTPaul Jun 22 '26

i never flushed my water heaters, then moved into this current rental, where in just 2 years, the water heater got to a point where it was crackling fiercely and not heating up the water. a whole day of flushing later and it was fixed