Plumber in Meadow Vista, San Tan Valley

That is water flashing to steam underneath a bed of mineral sediment on the tank floor. It means the burner is heating sediment before it heats water — you are using more energy, getting less hot water and cooking the tank lining. A flush removes it, and annual flushing prevents it from coming back.

In 15 to 18 grain water, a great deal. A softened, annually flushed tank routinely outlives an unsoftened, neglected one by four or five years. It takes under an hour and costs a fraction of any repair, which makes it the best return on any plumbing dollar you will spend.

It is a sacrificial metal rod inside the tank that corrodes so the steel tank does not. Hard water consumes it faster. Checking it around year five and replacing it if it is spent is inexpensive and can extend tank life substantially — and almost nobody has ever had theirs checked.

It is water flashing to steam underneath a bed of mineral sediment on the tank floor. It means the burner is heating rock before it heats water, so you are using more energy, getting less hot water and cooking the glass lining every day it continues. A flush removes it; annual flushing prevents it coming back.

In this water, yes — probably more than almost anywhere in the valley. Most of what we find is inexpensive to fix and expensive to ignore: pressure creeping over 80 psi, a heater that has never been flushed, seized angle stops, hardened supply lines and silent toilet leaks already on your bill.