Brian

I have a house on a well. It is a duplex so there are 2 water heaters and both were replaced within a year of each other. Different brands, different sizes – one had much worse sulfur (rotten egg) smell than the other. I found out that all water heaters are sold with an anode (the rod) that is designed for city water that includes chlorine. Though manufacturers make other ones with different rods, they are impossible to find in home center stores. I went to a large, professional plumbing supply store knowing that there were multiple styles – the “helpful” counter clerk said “you need the black one” (they were all black-ish and in a big bucket with no marks or distinguishing characteristics. $30 later with the one the guy told me to buy and within a week it stunk just as bad – and the slimy white stuff growing on it was disgusting to think that I was drinking that. I took it back to the store, got another one thinking they sold me the wrong one – same problem.

At that point I heard about “powered anodes” and in desperation tried one. It was that or hundreds of dollars to pour chemicals down my well and treat it – when I knew it wasn’t the well that was at fault since the cold water was fine. That was 3 years ago and the powered anode cured the problem immediately. I had not replaced the rod in the 2nd heater and it would smell occasionally depending on whether it had rained recently. I was replacing my softener and had good access to it and decided to put a powered anode in this one – I pulled the one on the old heater and it was spotless – no gross growths and it looks as good as the day it was new. For the new one I bought one from ICCP (Water Tank Tec). I ordered it because they were quite a bit less expensive than the first one I bought.

Once it arrived, I was able to compare the unit side-by-side with their competitor and I can say that the ICCP unit is machined beautifully (I’ve done a lot of mechanical work and can tell good workmanship). My degree is in Electrical Engineering and the design of their power supply is an improvement over the competitor. I like that it validates the tank size and gives a visual indicator that the unit is working as designed. The design allows for recessed installation and everything about how the wiring attaches to the unit is well thought out and elegantly designed – the ends on the wiring of the competitor fell off and I had to crimp my own on and the hole in it wouldn’t fit over the screw on the tank. No such problems with the ICCP unit – it has ends the perfect size and both attach over a single shaft. The wiring itself is thicker and I don’t worry about it shorting out around water. The anode itself is a solid titanium rod rather than a strip of who-knows-what-metal in the competitor and ICCP provides an extension for certain installation needs. That used a hex bolt the quality in workmanship was obvious.

I am not being paid for this review – I am just a customer that appreciates hard-working entrepreneurs and I offered up my thoughts to the company because I appreciate people who do things the right way. Good design and workmanship is really hard to come by these days and when you can get a unit that is competitively priced, with better features, and thoughtfully designed, the buying decision is truly as they say a “no-brainer”.