Nearly every home has one. Water heaters are ubiquitous in buildings, though they are not all the same. In most cases we heat and store water in a tank which has either electric elements or a gas ...

: Recently, you wrote about replacing a water heater's drain valve. A friend told us that we should also check the anode rod. Is this worth checking? If so, how do we do that? A: An anode rod is a ...

Q. Regarding your recent article, I also have a rotten egg smell in my hot water caused by a new water heater. When I contacted the manufacturer, it mentioned that removing the anode rod would ...

Q: Recently, you wrote about replacing a water heater’s drain valve. A friend told us that we should also check the anode rod. Is this worth checking? If so, how do we do that? A: An anode rod is a ...

(Above) Harrisonburg Public Utilities Technician II Lincoln McQuillan welds a line connecting a water pipe to a magnesium anode. Photo courtesy City of Harrisonburg. At the Harrisonburg Department of ...