Water heater annual maintenance?

[Norrie46]

Originally Posted by AnnArborBob

Our HW tank does not have an anode. Since we have similar aged units, I suspect your HW tank does not have an anode. Assuming that's the case, a periodic draining and flush as suggested above should be fine. If you travel extensively in areas known for hard water (i.e., the desert SW) you might want to do this a few times a year (we are basically full timers.) If you are a weekend warrior, once a year is probably fine.

We are currently in Yuma and our neighbor at the park we are in, told us not to drink the water. We can buy water at the park 25cents/ gal. I assume the water is hard and we are here for a month so will I need to clean/flush the tank when we get back to a soft water supply. Are there any tank cleaning products recommended for the Atwood water heater

thanks
Norrie

[JCWDCW]

You simply 1/2 fill your fresh water tank with water at home, add 1/2 cup of bleach through the fill nozzle (use a pop bottle) and flush the hot water heater with the fresh chlorinated water. Drain everything after letting it sit for 30 minutes and refill with fresh water. You at least need to get the bleach out of the aluminum tank by flushing if you are planning to store the trailer.
JCW