: Our recently purchased home has an older electric water heater. We learned there is a lot of scale/mineral sludge in the bottom of the tank. Is it possible and reasonably feasable to remove this scale so as to extend the life of the tank and heater coils? What can I do?Hi, Steve!!!If you dont mind getting messy, and the scale is loose, yes you can clean the tank out. Turn off the cold water inlet valve and drain the tank. Then unscrew the drain plug and remove it completely. This will leave a one inch opening for you to reach into with a wet-or-dry vacuum clnr. Get busy!! After an hour or so, you should have most of the deposits out. Put in a water softener so you wont have this problem again, OK?Good Luck!!!