Breaking down sediment/ mineral gunk with citric acid

[Bob from accounting]

We recently did an annual flush of our 5-year-old water heater. Pressurized flushing of the tank, power flushed for 25 mins. But then afterward we emptied the tank to swap out the gas control valve rather than doing an airlock swap out.

When we re-pressurized our pipes, I opened up our tube faucet during the process to bleed.

I did see some sediment coming out of the Tub faucet.

I am concerned that some of the hard minerals from the WH made it up into the tub supply line and down the tub drain. The tub drains slower now as a result. My hunch is that the tub drain has some old water heater sediment gunk that needs to be broken down.

I do not have easy access to snake it. I have been using bio clean for 6 months, but for hard mineral deposits that might have snuck into the drain and gunked it up. Can I use vinegar or citric acid to break it down? It is a 2” galvanized steel piping that I have to replace as soon as I have the budget to. In the meantime, I want to make sure citric acid or vinegar will be ok with galvanized steel and will help break down the mineral deposits that made their way into the drain line from the water heater flushing process.
It did not drain slowly prior as I have been religious with Bio-Clean, so I feel like there is sediment in these delicate drain lines that I baby, I am hoping I can break down the minerals with citric acid and not hurt the pipes.

 

[WorthFlorida]

........I am concerned that some of the hard minerals from the WH made it up into the tube supply line and down the tube drain. The tube drains slower now as a result. My hunch is that the tube drain has some old water heater sediment gunk that needs to be broken down.

What is the tube drain? Do you mean the bath tub? Spell auto correct will sneak in words. Anything made it pass the faucet valve body of the tub would be small enough not to cause a clogged pipe unless it was already nearly blocked. With a long flush like you did there shouldn't be much sediment left in the WH.

What type of tub drain stopper do you have? Is this tub used by women? Long hair is probably the #1 clog problems with drains. Is it galvanized steel drain pipe? They love to fill with rust and all kids of gunk.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bob from accounting]

What is the tube drain? Do you mean the bath tub? Spell auto correct will sneak in words.

For anyone reading this, I had written "tube" instead of Tub. So that has been edited and fixed sorry for the confusion.
Thanks Florida for seeing through that error and helping advise on this.

I baby these drain lines being they are old galvanized pipes and we are psychos about what goes down these drains.
We have a basket strainer that catches almost everything before it goes down. I was a bit concerned with seeing that mineral sediment from the WH in the basket and in the tub base when I went to shut it off after the bleed/ re-pressurization.

The drain line was not slow prior to this exercise but we are aware of how delicate it is and I am sensitive to what goes down it and when we need to be concerned. I can't help but think that the sediment has created some build up being that these pips suck in the first place. When something finally squeaked through our defenses I think it might be the issue. The ID of these pipes are probably just enough to let water through, but when you introduce even the littlest bit of debris, I want to try to attempt to break down anything hard with citric acid.

 

[Reach4]

Those should be fine. I used phosphoric, which is a step stronger than the two you mentioned. I went thru phases, using that, then laundry detergent solution. That does not make it right. I also alternated bringing in water thru the anode hole (which was open during my process) vs via the regular dip tube. I was trying to get some mechanical turbulence. I have thought that a small pressure washer wand that could fit thru the drain hole might be nice. Less agressive would be Wand: Camco 40103 25.5 inches long, driven by a garden hose. This would require some straight access, either with the drain valve replaced by a 3/4 inch nipple. Or on that nipple, put a full port ball valve Or use something like Rheem SP12231B or AP12231C-1.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Rheem-SP12231B-Brass-Drain-Valve

 

[Fitter30]

Suck it out with a shop vac first then try it.

 

[Bob from accounting]

Suck it out with a shop vac first then try it.

Just a reminder this is no longer about a water heater but about this 2-inch galvanized steel drain line I am working on breaking down sediment in that drains the bathtub. I believe it now has sediment in it that did not make it out of the WH flushing process and instead migrated up into the bathtub faucet. I could see the sediment in the drain basket and the base of the tub. So I know it went down the drain, just not sure how much made it down there. But we are now seeing it drain slower than normal.
I am not sure how to suck that out of a tub drain, but I know how to such that out of the bottom of a water heater. Not sure which you are implying.
I already poured vinegar down the anode rode hole when I removed it and did my flush. So I am now in the stage of troubleshooting the bathtub drain line. So I will continue with Bio-Clean, Citric Acid, and lastly vinegar. Obviously not all at once. Thanks, seems like over time it hopefully breaks down.

 

[Bob from accounting]

So I was able to place about a tablespoon of citric acid with hot water mixture down the Bath Tub drain line.
Came back and the entire house smelled like raw sewage.
I have been trying to look for breaks, I popped the service down behind the bath and did not see anything dripping, nothing wet, or even smelly. I can not fully smell where this is coming from. I think maybe the smell is coming out of the tub drain? Maybe coming out of the drain into the house? Pretty disappointing results here.
It is tough to pinpoint the smell.
The tub drains fine, there is not back up in the tub. There never was, it just got a bit slower. Nothing in the house is backed up and no other drain lines have a smell coming out of them. It seemed related to putting citric acid down this tub drain line to me.
Just thought I would throw this out there as I did not anticipate this reaction.
Thoughts?

 

[Reach4]

It could have been that the citric acid reacted with something, and produced some gas. Some of the gas may have come up the overflow.

 

[Bob from accounting]

It could have been that the citric acid reacted with something, and produced some gas. Some of the gas may have come up the overflow.

I think this is the case Reach, I am hoping you are right!
I have some Bio-Clean down there now for the night, I have a stopper over the drain with some water in the tub to act as a smell buffer. However, when you brought up the overflow, this now makes me realize the tub stopper and tub water is not going to do jack as the gas will just go out the overflow. It was well intended.
The smell has dissipated, it does seem like there was a reaction and gases filled the entire 3 stories. But with a rinse and lots of spray I think maybe this was a freak thing and it all was just coming out of the overfill as you said. My hope is that now this smell will not make it past the ptrap as designed.