Can An Old Hot Water Heater Make You Sick?


Can An Old Hot Water Heater Make You Sick

You might be surprised to know that your old water heater can play a part in your illness. Undoubtedly, water heaters are one of the amazing inventions. It helps us use hot water for different purposes like bathing, washing, cleaning, and more. 

Unfortunately, with some pros, comes to few cons as well. These cons can harm you big time. You might be thinking how a water heater can make you fall sick?! We are here to help you with the same! Keep reading. 

Yes! You might fall sick because of your old water heater. After a period of time, the quality of the water will deteriorate as it comes out of the tank. The reason being sediment build up and rusting.

Old Is Not Always Gold

Your old water heater might just need a see-off! If you keep on dragging it for long, not only the quality of its service will deteriorate but chances of your health getting affected will get higher. You need to avoid using a water heater for more than a decade. 

We all know quite well that nothing will last forever! In terms of water heater, it goes the same way. We need to get it replaced in a matter of 8 to 10 years. Not many know when the water heaters will generally get expired. This can lead to major issues coming forward. 

Most of the water heaters survive a decade!

After this, no repair, only replacement is recommended! In fact, you must not stretch it this far. It will be wise if you replace the device a year or two before. You need to catch the symptoms your heater is showing that it has gone past its expiration date. 

To help you out, now let’s understand the symptoms of the expired heater! 

See also: Bradford White Vs AO Smith Water Heater

Signs Your Water Heater Needs Replacement 

You need to keep on checking with your water heater symptoms until it’s too late. It needs to be replaced way before it shows the below mentioned signs, check it out:

      • Rusting on the 
      • Water rusting
      • Leaks
      • Noises
      • Unable to heat

These are the symptoms that are serious and need to be acted upon quickly. Ignoring the same can enhance the chances of damage to your health. It is not that you can use your water heater for 10 years. As and when you witness these symptoms, JUST GET IT REPLACED!

How It Can Affect Your Health?

The water available in your tank is good enough to even drink. But, the water might be filled with small chunks of minerals. Using regularly can leave behind many such chunks in your tank itself. This build-up can affect the system quite significantly. 

So, you need to make sure that you are cleaning the sediment out of your tank. If not, your tank might experience bacterial growth. This can start to cause harm to you and your family by making them sick. 

It can also be the reason behind unpleasant smelling water coming out of the tank. As the bacteria die because the gases released it can contaminate the water with the rotten eggs-like smell. To protect yourself, you need to flush the system off! 

On the other hand, there is a chance of having rust build in your tank. So, the water might not be smelly but rusty. This can also be the reason behind your sickness. In this situation, you have to replace the water heater at the quickest before things turn severe.

How To Keep Water Heaters In Proper Shape? 

To keep your home safe from the above mentioned case, maintenance holds the key! 

All you need to do is to focus on two important things, they are:

  • A routine check-up and maintenance service,
  • Only an experienced and certified expert is working on it. 

Following the above-mentioned two points will certainly keep your water heater in excellent condition. Or, if they are not in excellent condition, the expert will certainly let you know the same. A MAJOR SETBACK CAN BE AVERTED!

Wrap Up

A water heater is one of the most integral assets of your house. You need to take care of it every which way. If you let your heater take control, things can certainly become problematic. So, schedule regular maintenance and inspection of your water heaters now to stay safe and healthy! 

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