Replacing cold water tank - worth it?

shaun_from_Africa

Okey00001 said:
 the tank could be flushed out and cleaned as suggested. But how?

I did this not too long ago.
Either turn off the water going into the tank at the relevant shutoff valve or main stopcock or if you don't want to fiddle with them, tie up the ball valve so the tank won't fill when the level drops.
Then just run a couple of cold taps until the water level in the tank has dropped to the minimum. This will still leave a fair bit between the output line and the bottom of the tank and remove this using a bucket or other container. (or if you can get hold of one, a wet and dry vacuum)
When you've taken out as much as you can with the container or vacuum soak up any residual water with a sponge, squeezing it into the bucket then remove the debris with the sponge or a rag.

It's not a quick job and if your attic is anything like mine, you will get extremely hot and sweaty but it's not difficult provided you have good access to the top of the tank.

Okey00001

grumbler said:

Just close the tap, and wait until the tank gets empty. Then remove the debris manually and wash the tank if you wish. Get rid of the dirty water, then refill the tank.

Thank you, I'll  close the mains and turn cold taps on to drain water from tank. There is a water level which needs to be removed manually somehow to get to the debris.

grumbler

Okey00001 said:

 I'll  close the mains and turn cold taps on to drain water from tank.

Normally there is  a separate tap for the tank. If you close it you can let the tank to drain naturally instead of wasting the water.

Okey00001

shaun_from_Africa said:

Okey00001 said:
 the tank could be flushed out and cleaned as suggested. But how?

I did this not too long ago.
Either turn off the water going into the tank at the relevant shutoff valve or main stopcock or if you don't want to fiddle with them, tie up the ball valve so the tank won't fill when the level drops.
Then just run a couple of cold taps until the water level in the tank has dropped to the minimum. This will still leave a fair bit between the output line and the bottom of the tank and remove this using a bucket or other container. (or if you can get hold of one, a wet and dry vacuum)
When you've taken out as much as you can with the container or vacuum soak up any residual water with a sponge, squeezing it into the bucket then remove the debris with the sponge or a rag.

It's not a quick job and if your attic is anything like mine, you will get extremely hot and sweaty but it's not difficult provided you have good access to the top of the tank.

Thank you, that's a great help.