Fizzy bubbles in hot water line

ArmyRXP

So I didnt know this but after looking found out you should change your anode rod around 4-5 years. What got me to this was we started to get the fizzy bubbles in the hot water lines at the faucets, I did get the old rod out, what was left of it, and put in a new one. Now the question is we had like 3-2 days of fizzy before I changed the rod out so how long does it take to get the fizzy bubbles out? This is a 40 gal. tall tank. It has only been 24 hours and still have the fizzies, any help on this? Thanks

Gary

Larry Weingarten

Hi, There are a couple of causes of having gas in the water heater. Things are different if you're on a well also. Assuming city water, a new anode will slowly make hydrogen gas, particularly if the old rod was used up. It means there is more to protect and the new anode is working harder. Normally you'll get some spurting at the tap, or cloudy water that turns clear in a few minutes if you fill a glass. This usually is only on first use in the morning as the tank has been accumulating gas all night. If you want some entertainment, you can run that first flush into a plastic bag and collect some of the gas. If you take a match and burn through the bag and it lights the "air" in the bag, you know that it's hydrogen gas. It cannot blow up, as it's not contained. Another source of air in the tank is work being done on the water system. Is any of that going on? If you keep getting gas in the water, there are two things to do. First is a test, where you replace the anode with a plug. Does the gas stop? If so, you know it really is the anode. Then, consider getting a powered anode to protect the tank. They don't have the gassy problem that sacrificial anodes can have. An alternate would be to get a magnesium anode that has a resistor built into it. These are made by Rheem. It will produce less gas as it's a less reactive anode. I would not go with an aluminum anode as there are health concerns.

Yours, Larry

hot_rod

The aerator on faucets blends air with the flow so water doesn't splash when you put hands or dishes under it. Micro-bubbles, set the open glass on the counter and the cloudy ness disappears.

What makes microbubbles come out of solution is #1 heat, boil water to see this.

#2 remove the pressure. Water in your plumbing pipes is under 60 psi or so. The microbubbles, or entrained air come out when you fill an open glass or container.

Another source as Larry mentioned, created by the anode rod. It also come out in an open glass due to the pressure being taken off of it.

ArmyRXP

Thanks guys, I am going to get a small hose and 5gal bucket so I can purge the tank or flush it and see if some of the old rod particles will come out. It seems that the microbubbles are minimizing but still there. Hopefully the flush will help.

Larry Weingarten

Hi @ArmyRXP , Flushing sediment from a tank is always a good thing (as long as the drain valve doesn't start leaking!), but that shouldn't have any effect on gas formation inside of the tank. It's good that the bubbling is slowing down. It suggests things are reaching some sort of equilibrium. I think it would be prudent to check the anode again in one year, just to see how fast it's being used up.

Yours, Larry