When water is pooling under your water heater
A tank that is actively leaking can put a lot of water on a garage floor in a short time, and it can wick into drywall and flooring nearby. You can reach us any hour on the 24/7 emergency line. While you wait, the steps below limit the damage.
- Close the cold water shutoff valve on the pipe feeding the top of the heater. A quarter turn handle should sit across the pipe when closed.
- Turn off the power. For an electric heater, switch off its breaker. For a gas heater, turn the gas control to off only if you can reach it dry and you smell no gas.
- If you smell rotten eggs or hear hissing, do not touch anything. Leave, then call 911 and Southwest Gas at 877-860-6020 before you call us.
- Do not stand in water near a heater or panel. If water has reached outlets or the breaker box, stay out and call us.
- Move boxes and stored items off the floor, and run a shop vacuum or mop to keep water from reaching living areas.
Gas smell comes first, repair comes second
If your home has natural gas service, a gas water heater is a combustion appliance. Southwest Gas lists a rotten-egg or sulfur odor, even a faint one, and any hissing or roaring sound as reasons to act immediately.
Get everyone out, leave the doors open, and call from outside. Do not flip light switches, adjust the thermostat, or use the automatic garage door opener on the way out. Call 911 and the gas company's leak line at 877-860-6020, day or night, whether or not you are a customer. We will come after the gas utility says the home is safe to enter.
Tank leaking now?
Call the 24/7 emergency line at (855) 575-2890 and tell us what you see.
Signs the heater is failing
Not every leak is a dead tank. These are the signs we hear about most, and each points somewhere different.
Puddle under the tank
Water on the floor can come from a fitting, the relief valve, the drain valve, or the tank shell. Where it drips from decides the repair.
Wet edge at the garage slab
A dark line where the garage slab meets the wall may be the heater, or it may be a supply line in or under the concrete. We check the heater first, then the lines.
Rumbling or popping
Mineral sediment at the bottom of the tank traps steam bubbles as the burner or element heats. It is common where water is hard.
Rusty or cloudy hot water
Brown hot water with clear cold water often means the tank interior is corroding. It also shows up when the anode rod is used up.
How we trace a leak before touching a wrench
A water heater leak can look the same from the doorway and mean four different repairs. We work from the top of the tank down.
- 1
Dry everything and watch
We wipe the tank, the fittings and the floor, then see where the first new drop appears. Condensation on a cold-water line also looks like a leak, so we rule it out.
- 2
Check the connections
Inlet and outlet nipples, flex connectors, and the shutoff valve are the most frequent sources. A loose or corroded fitting is a small repair.
- 3
Test the relief valve and discharge line
The temperature and pressure relief valve opens to protect the tank. If it drips, we look at water pressure and thermal expansion before we blame the valve.
- 4
Decide on a repair or a stop
If the shell is leaking, no repair holds. We say so plainly and explain the replacement path on our page about replacing a failed tank.
Hybrid, electric and gas water heater repair compared
The three kinds of heater fail in different places. Here is what we look at on each, and what the repair usually involves.
| Heater type | Frequent faults | What the repair involves | Extra safety note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas storage tank | Pilot or igniter trouble, failed thermocouple, gas control valve, flue draft problems | Cleaning and testing the burner assembly, replacing the thermocouple or control valve, checking the flue | Any gas odor means leave first and call 911 and the gas utility |
| Electric storage tank | Burned-out upper or lower element, bad thermostat, tripped high-limit reset | Testing elements with a meter, replacing the element or thermostat, flushing sediment | Power must be off at the breaker before covers come off |
| Hybrid (heat pump) | Fan or airflow blockage, condensate drain clog, sensor faults, element backup | Clearing the condensate path and filter, testing sensors, checking the backup element | It needs clear airspace and a place for condensate to drain |
Garage and attic heat in a Marana summer
Many Marana water heaters sit in a garage or an attic. Tucson-area average highs run about 101 degrees in June and 100 in July, and an attic can be much hotter than the air outside. Heat ages rubber seals, plastic fittings and electronic controls faster, which is why we see more control board and sensor faults in summer.
The practical advice is simple. Keep boxes and paint cans off the heater and away from the flue, keep the area around the tank clear so air can move, and check the floor around it each season. Spotting a small drip early is cheaper than finding a soaked garage wall.
Hard water and the sediment inside your tank
Marana water is hard, and how hard depends on where you live. The Town's May 2026 table lists roughly 3 to 14 grains per gallon depending on the neighborhood. Gladden Farms and Marana Main Street sit on the Marana Municipal system at about 9 grains per gallon on average, Picture Rocks and Saguaro Bloom run about 12, and the Hartman Vistas area is about 5.
Minerals settle as a layer at the bottom of a storage tank. That layer insulates the water from the burner or lower element, causes the rumbling, and shortens the tank's life. Flushing a tank on a regular schedule, and checking the anode rod, slows this down. Your provider may differ by address, so confirm it on your bill or with the Town lookup.
No hot water at all
A completely cold tap is usually a power or fuel problem and not a leak. On an electric heater we check the breaker, the high-limit reset, and both elements. On a gas heater we look at the pilot or igniter, the thermocouple, and the gas control. If the tank is also leaking, the answer changes, and we move to the replacement conversation.
Repair it, or stop and replace
We try to tell you which side of the line your heater is on before any work starts.
Usually a repair
- Dripping relief valve or drain valve
- Loose or corroded inlet and outlet fittings
- Failed element, thermostat or thermocouple
- Clogged condensate line on a hybrid unit
- Sediment noise from a tank that is not leaking
Usually a replacement
- Water coming from the tank seam or jacket
- Rust-colored hot water with a corroded tank
- Repeated repairs on an aging unit
- Tank bulging or the base soaked and rusted through
- Cost of repair approaching the cost of a new unit
When the wet spot may not be the heater
Slab-on-grade construction is common in Marana, so supply lines often run in or under the garage slab. If the heater is dry and the floor edge is still damp, the water may be coming from a line you cannot see. We can pass that to our leak detection work, which uses listening gear and pressure tests to find the source without opening walls blindly.
A similar call from Picture Rocks, where Pima County and not the Town handles permits, follows the same logic. See our Picture Rocks page for how we cover that area. Repairs that touch the relief valve, venting or gas connection are the ones the 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC), as the Town of Marana has amended it, cares about most, so ask your plumber which parts of the job fall under it.
What drives the cost of a water heater repair
The price follows the part that failed and how hard it is to reach. We explain it before we start.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The 24/7 emergency line takes calls at any hour, including nights, weekends and holidays. We do not promise a set arrival time, but we will tell you what to shut off while you wait.
Not always. A dripping fitting, relief valve or drain valve can leave the same puddle. Dry the area and watch where the first drop forms, or call and we will trace it.
It can be the water heater, but it can also be a supply line under the concrete. If the heater and its connections are dry, the next step is a pressure test of the lines.
Leave the house with everyone inside and keep doors open. Do not use switches, the garage door opener or a phone indoors. From outside, call 911 and Southwest Gas at 877-860-6020, then call us once the utility clears the home.
It can shorten its life. Minerals build up on the tank floor and on elements, so the heater works harder to heat the same water. Hardness in Marana varies by system, from about 3 to about 14 grains per gallon, so ask your water provider about your address.
If the tank shell leaks, replace it. If the fault is a valve, element or control, a repair can make sense. We will tell you which one, and our installation page covers the planning side if you choose a new unit.
Heater down tonight?
Call (855) 575-2890. We will help you shut things off and plan the repair.
Call (855) 575-2890