Water Heater Maintenance in Fort Collins and Loveland

Signs your water heater needs maintenance

Causes come from A.O. Smith, Rheem and Rinnai guidance and Fort Collins Utilities.

If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility from outside. Water seeping from the tank itself means the steel has rusted through, which maintenance cannot fix; see water heater repair in Fort Collins. For odors, read why hot water smells like rotten eggs.

What does water heater maintenance include?

For a tank heater, maintenance means draining sediment, inspecting the anode rod, testing the T&P valve, checking the temperature and any expansion tank, and checking the burner and venting on gas models or the elements on electric ones. Manufacturers set the intervals:

• Flush or partial drain. The U.S. Department of Energy suggests draining a quart every three months to remove sediment. A.O. Smith recommends a full drain and flush after the first six months, then yearly, or more often if a lot comes out. See how to flush a water heater.
• Anode rod inspection and replacement. This sacrificial rod corrodes so the steel tank does not. DOE suggests inspecting it every three to four years, A.O. Smith and Rheem yearly, and Rheem says to replace it once more than 6 inches of core wire shows. Running without one shortens tank life and voids the warranty.
• T&P relief valve test. A.O. Smith says to lift the lever at least yearly, because mineral deposits can make the valve stick; Consumer Reports suggests every six months. The water is scalding, and a valve that will not reseat needs replacing, never capping.
• Temperature at 120°F. DOE recommends 120°F as safe for most households; hotter settings raise the scald risk.
• Expansion tank, where one exists. Expansion tank maker Amtrol says a licensed professional should check it yearly. Colorado’s code requires the tank to be supported, not hung from its pipes. See whether you need a water heater expansion tank.
• Gas models: burner and venting. A.O. Smith calls for a yearly look at the venting, air supply, gas piping and burners; its manual describes a healthy flame as small and blue with a little yellow or orange at the edges, and large flames mean shut it off and call. A blocked vent can spill carbon monoxide, so vent work belongs to a licensed plumber.
• Electric models: elements and thermostats. Bradford White has a technician check the thermostats yearly and the element seals for leaks, and Rheem says louder hissing can mean an element needs cleaning. That work means opening panels on what is usually a 240-volt circuit.

What water heater maintenance costs

National cost guides give a starting point, not a Fort Collins quote:

If a check turns up a failing tank, our water heater replacement cost guide covers what a new one runs.

Is Fort Collins water hard? What soft water means for maintenance

No. Every local water provider that publishes a hardness figure reports soft water, roughly 14 to 35 mg/L, or about 0.8 to 2 grains per gallon. Scale builds more slowly than in hard-water cities, but tanks still collect sediment and anodes still wear out.

The City of Loveland Utilities’ 2025 report gives a yearly average of 24 mg/L, about 1.4 grains per gallon. Longmont averages about 22 mg/L, Estes Park 14, and Soldier Canyon treated water (for ELCO, the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District and North Weld) 21 to 32. Fort Collins Utilities publishes no figure but calls its water naturally soft. Loveland and Longmont say their customers do not need a softener, and claims online that Loveland water runs 10 to 17 grains per gallon do not match Loveland’s own report.

Maintenance still matters because:

• Some minerals settle anyway. State Water Heaters notes that lime is in every water system to some degree and comes out faster as water heats.
• Soft water is harder on steel. Rheem says hard water leaves a protective film that soft water does not, and Fort Collins Utilities has added calcium and carbon dioxide since 1984 because untreated soft water can be corrosive.
• Softeners wear anodes faster, according to A.O. Smith and Rheem.
• Private wells differ, and they are common around LaPorte, Bellvue and Masonville.