Jelly like substance-bottom of water heater??

[racin4ds]

My wife and kids have been noticing they get much shorter shower times so I figure its time for a new element in the ol water heater... (house was built in 06, so timing is about right) anyway I go to drain the thing and notice it takes forever! just barely trickles out and then I see why.. there are these chunks of some type of jelled material coming out. Finally it drains enough to pull the bottom element and I see what appears to be several inches of this stuff in the bottom of my tank! Its almost clear and doesn't stink or anything. Was it put there on purpose or is it something in my water? We have a very deep well with GREAT water. Absolutely no smell or discoloring ever so I don't know what it could be. Do I try to flush it out or is it needed? Heater is a GE unit I believe...

 

[SuperDave456]

Whatever it is, flush it out.
Then start flushing the unit out every year.

When we replaced my father's 12 year old Electric unit the bottom of it was filled with pebbles and other sediment. No pump or well, we are on a residential street with the city's water.

That stuff makes it in there, and never comes out. Eventually killing the capacity, and the heater.

 

[Donald]

Did it glow or have a heartbeat? Did it try and swallow you whole?

I am thinking alien pods.

 

[racin4ds]

lol.... no glowing that I noticed..

No pebbles or normal scale and sediment material that I'm used to just this jelly stuff! Flushing it this weekend for sure tho!

 

[FL_Rob]

Algae slime.Harmless but flush yearly.

 

[racin4ds]

But its clear, barely a brown tint.... algae is normally greenish?

 

[Donald]

You might get your well water tested. And/or shock the well with some chlorine.

What does the inside of the toilet tank look like?

 

[Stelth]

I don't know what that stuff is, either, but I've seen it. Out here we have pretty hard water, and I'm more used to hard, crusty deposits, and I kind of thought the gel stuff was maybe a precursor to those deposits. I base this on the fact that I've seen hard calcium/magnesium bits surrounded by the gel. However, I'm no chemist, so I'm not sure.

If it were me, I'd give the tank a good cleaning, maybe unscrew the drain cock, and make sure that it's clear as well.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Where I grew up we had very hard water. My father would stick a coat hanger in the drain spout of the gas water heater and break up a lot of the buildup.

 

[SHOZ]

Pull the anode rod out and see what's left of it.

 

[irad]

Your anode is made of aluminum. The jelly is a byproduct of the anode doing it's job, corroding to protect your plumbing. Try to get magnesium anode. They are hard to find and more money. Aluminum anodes are flat on the top. Magnesium anodes have a raised bump in the center of the top of the cap.

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: irad
Your anode is made of aluminum. The jelly is a byproduct of the anode doing it's job, corroding to protect your plumbing. Try to get magnesium anode. They are hard to find and more money. Aluminum anodes are flat on the top. Magnesium anodes have a raised bump in the center of the top of the cap.


I did not know that, but it could explain a lot. I'm familiar with magnesium anodes, but not aluminum. Interesting.

 

[Donald]

Boats uses anodes also. Different metals for different waters.

 

[adamrc]

My 50 gallon gas water heater had the same clear-like jelly substance at the bottom of it when I drained it out. I had no idea what it was and had never seen it before. I made sure to flush it out very good. It's always a good idea to flush it out every year to keep the sediment out. I recently installed a whole-house water filter. I'm hoping that it may help out at least some with the build-up in the water heater.

 

[Wolf359]

If you don't have any problems with the water, I believe magnesium rods are preferred over aluminum as some seem to think that alzheimer people have high levels of aluminum in their system. They're not too hard to find online, but I think the rods that Home Depot sells are aluminum. Normally most 6 and 9 year heaters have one rod, but 12 year heaters have two rods so you want to make sure you don't end up with a mixed set if you have two. I've been getting these 4 pack of magnesium rods for $39.94, I just use a sawsall to cut them if they're too long. If you just need one, it's $11.99. What's tough is to find a cheap source of the flexible rods, but what I've done is just disconnect the water heater and tip it over if there's not enough room.

http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/cPath/581_859_709/products_id/7434

http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/cPath/581_859_709/products_id/9164

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: irad
Your anode is made of aluminum. The jelly is a byproduct of the anode doing it's job, corroding to protect your plumbing.


That's not correct. His description is a perfect description of bacterial issues. It's not uncommon with people who have well water, and he's on well water.

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
But its clear, barely a brown tint.... algae is normally greenish?



The cause of the issue is bacteria in your groundwater, possibly iron bacteria from your description of the slight brown tint.

The bacteria in your well consume iron for metabolism and trap the iron in a gelatin-like off-white mass. It's coming in small amounts from your well and collecting in the water heater tank, and possibly your toilet tank(s). Health-wise it's harmless, but the biomass can cause damage to wells, water tanks and even filtering equipment. Eventually it will begin to add an unpleasant odor and flavor to your water.

You need to professionally treat the issue at it's source because it will damage water system components.