If you live in Tampa Bay, your water heater works harder than it would in most of the country. Much of our water is hard, which means it carries dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium. When that water is heated, the minerals settle out and collect at the bottom of the tank as sediment. Left alone, that sediment shortens the life of the heater and drives up your power or gas bill.

The good news: a yearly flush keeps most of it under control. Here’s what our team tells homeowners every week.

The short answer: once a year

For a standard tank water heater in Tampa Bay, plan on a flush once a year. Most manufacturers recommend at least that. If you have very hard water, a large family, or you’ve already heard the tank popping and rumbling, every six to nine months is better.

Tankless water heaters don’t hold sediment the same way, but mineral scale builds up inside the heat exchanger. They need a descaling (running a cleaning solution through the unit) about once a year in hard-water areas.

Signs your water heater needs a flush now

• Popping, crackling or rumbling when the heater runs. That’s water trapped under a layer of sediment, boiling and bursting through it.
• Hot water runs out faster than it used to. Sediment takes up room in the tank and insulates the water from the burner or element.
• Cloudy or rusty-looking hot water, or bits of grit in faucet aerators.
• Higher energy bills with no change in how you use hot water.
• Burned-out electric elements. The photo above is a heating element we pulled from a Palm Harbor water heater. That crust is hard-water scale, and it’s why the element failed.

Can you flush it yourself?

Many homeowners can. The basic steps are to turn off the power or gas, shut the cold water supply, connect a hose to the drain valve, open a hot faucet in the house, and drain until the water runs clear. A few cautions from the field:

• The water coming out is scalding hot. Let the tank cool for a few hours first.
• Old plastic drain valves often clog with sediment or start leaking once they’ve been opened. If yours hasn’t been touched in years, be ready for that.
• On an electric heater, never turn the power back on until the tank is full. Running the elements dry burns them out in seconds.
• If the tank is more than 10 years old and has never been flushed, a flush can stir up enough sediment to expose a weak spot. That’s a good time to have a plumber look at it first.

What a professional flush and inspection includes

When our team services a tank water heater, we don’t just drain it. A typical visit covers:

• Full drain and flush until the water runs clear
• Testing the temperature and pressure relief valve
• Checking the drain valve, supply lines and shutoff
• Looking at the burner and venting on gas units, or the elements and thermostats on electric units
• Checking the drain pan and looking for early signs of a leak
• An honest read on how much life the heater has left

A tank flush and inspection is $189. It’s also included every year in our $84/year maintenance plan, along with a whole-home plumbing inspection and member discounts on repairs.

Flush, repair or replace?

Most tank water heaters in our area last about 8 to 12 years. If yours is in that range and you’re seeing rust at the base, water in the pan, or you’re paying for repairs every year, replacement usually makes more sense than another fix. We’ll give you a firm price on both options before any work starts, and water heater replacement can be financed through Acorn Finance or Klarna.

If hard water is the root problem, a water softener protects the new heater and every fixture in the house.