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in article znr1100528229k@trad, Mike Rivers at wrote on
11/15/04 6:59 AM:

I've tried diligently draining the tank a couple of
times a year and that doesn't seem to help. Maybe I should fill it
with vinegar occasionally like I do with my coffee pots? g

I live in a place with amazingly high mineral content in the water. It
tastes like a mountain stream, but wreaks havoc with homes like mine which
do not have water softeners.

My gas water heater pops and chunks when it's heating. This is the layer of
mineral deposits breaking away from the bottom and roiling up to the
surface, banging on the inside of the tank. I asked our county gas people
if there was a known fix for this. "Get a new water heater" was the reply.
Apparently there is some way to drain and dig out the crud, but it's really
difficult, time consuming, and messy, and not that effective. A vinegar
wash doesn't get it out - just breaks it up in smaller pieces.

There are folks that make electromagentic collars that surround the water
intake pipe and thus make the water softer. This supposedly realigns
something in the minerals' molecular structure which then makes it
impossible for it to stick to anything. As a side benefit this process
claims that it eventually cleans out encrusted water heaters.

Carlos