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why is there an anode rod in water heaters?

a couple of days ago my dad removed the anode rod (or stink rod as we call it) because our water smelled so bad that we could'nt drink it w/o feeling sick. it smelled like rotten eggs and made the water taste like it too. well, we had only had the heater in for two months, but when we pulled out the rod, it was so black and gross looking it looked like it had been there for years! my questions are: 1. why are the rods used? 2. what is it made out of? my dad has been wondering about these very questions. also, does it hurt to remove the anode? our old heater never had one as far as we know and it lasted 13 yrs and the water tasted great.

Public Comments

1. It's probably made out of zinc and it's what they call in the shipping industry a sacrificial anode. When you have a combination of metals (say, iron and copper) in a water environment, the difference in the number of electron atoms in the two metals actually causes a very small electric current to flow. When this current flows, it causes a corrosion called galvanic corrosion between the dissimilar metals. So, a piece of zinc is installed which then corrodes instead of the copper or iron parts. That's why it's called a sacrificial anode, because you sacrifice a useless zinc part instead of allowing the useful other metal parts to corrode.
2. A pressure release valve is attached to a rod (usually copper) on the outside of a water heater as a safety feature and required by most city and county codes. The smell probably has nothing to do with the new water heater itself, but the water inside of it. That may be caused by other pipes in the home plumbing because they are corroded, plugged and "stuff" accumulates if the pipes are not cleared causing the odor. You may need to have a plumber check to see if your pipes need replacing.
3. http://home.howstuffworks.com/water-heater1.htm
4. That Rod or anode or what ever you call it is a heat thermostat which must be located in tank connected to the water to insure disconnect burner if any over heat temperature .