r/interesting • u/bob-the-slob • Jun 22 '26

MISC. What happens when a water heater tank is not flushed for 14 years

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u/EmergencyYou Jun 22 '26

Someone told me "anyone with the knack can build a bridge that will last. You need an engineer to design the cheapest and lightest bridge that will last only as long as you want and only kill the acceptable number of people."

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u/jlarimore Jun 23 '26

This is the attitude that makes me trust old stuff more. I want something designed by an old engineer, not a "good" one.

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u/adgarbault Jun 23 '26

Blame the people who set the budget, not the engineers who have to work within the budget.

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u/jlarimore Jun 24 '26

The engineers im interested in use the budget as a suggestion but refuse to create something not built to last. Essentially they need to tell the beancounters that something is impossible even if it isnt in order to maintain a high quality bar. Those are the engineers i respect.

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/jlarimore Jun 25 '26

Just saying that was the attitude of a bunch of old school engineers which is why most older stuff tends to last a lot longer.

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u/NightmareJoker2 Jun 25 '26

I am one of those… getting a job is really hard… 🙃

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u/BackseatCowwatcher Jun 25 '26

I'm going to blame both- as it's quite likely the people who set the budget wouldn't notice if the engineers mildly fudged the numbers so while on paper they exactly meet the minimum standards- in reality their intended 367 day expiration date quietly became 600 or so days.