Flush Your Water Tank and Keep Your Hot Water Flowing

5/7/2019 (Permalink)

If your hot water heater fails, call SERVPRO of Texarkana

Performing this one-hour task once or twice yearly will save you money on repairs, reduce your energy consumption and keep your water heater running at peak efficiency.

It can be done in six simple steps

1. Assemble Your Tools
The tools needed for a water heater flush include:

• A garden hose.
• A flathead screwdriver.
• A pump or 5 -gallon bucket if no drain is available.

2. Shut off the Energy Supply
For gas heaters, shut off the flow of gas to the unit.
For electric heaters, turn off the appropriate circuit breaker.

3. Prepare the Tank for Draining
Attach the hose to the drain valve of the water heater. Ideally, the other end should go to a floor or shower drain that is at or below the level of the valve. If you don’t have such a drain, you will have to determine a draining method that works for you. Keep in mind that the water is hot and could cause burns or damage lawns and shrubbery.

4. Drain the Tank
The goal here is to drain the tank and flush it with clean water. This is a three-step process.

• Open the drain valve which allows tank water to flow out and fresh water to flow in.
• After a few minutes, open a hot water faucet in the kitchen.
• Finally, shut off the water. When empty, give the tank one last quick flush.

5. Refill the Tank
Close the drain valve and open the water supply. Once the open water faucet shows a steady flow of water, shut it off.

6. Turn on the Energy Supply
Just reverse what you did earlier to shut off the power supply. For gas, confirm that the pilot light is lit.

When your water heater fails with a flood, you can call SERVPRO of Texarkana we have the training and equipment to perform your cleanup and quickly return things to normal.

903-832-4400