"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:1L6Te.1821$8i7.921@trndny07...
Bob Noel wrote:

ah yes, I had forgotten at about that side of the heater.

Thinking about it, though, the heater wouldn't be a real good source
during a flood. They usually are located about as low in the house as you
can get one (sometimes actually in the crawl space) and the drain is on
the bottom. If anything is below flood waters, it'll be the drain on that
tank.

Why wouldn't the water heater be a good source of uncontaminated water? If
the water supply to the heater is shut off and the faucets aren't turned on,
there should still be clean water in the heater, right? If there is a drain
on the heater, it would normally be closed. There is a pressure release
valve that may release some water from the heater but should be closed also
to keep outside water out. Getting the good water out of the heater may be a
problem since as George says, the drain is usually on the bottom and
possibly below the flood water. Of course if the house is destroyed, might
as well destroy the plumbing to the heater also to get at the good water.

Up here in the north the water heaters are usually in a basement but down
south, they're usually on ground floor in a utility room/closet or in the
garage. If it's in the garage and is a gas water heater, it's raised about
12-18 inches per code, if recently installed or replaced.

No, I'm not a plumber but I've had water heaters replaced or repaired in my
houses in Oklahoma, Texas and Minnesota.

-Greg B.