How long do water heaters last in Central Texas?

Water heater lifespan is mostly a water-quality story, and our water is hard. The limestone aquifers that supply the Waco area load water with minerals that drop out as sediment the moment water is heated. That sediment blankets the tank floor, forces gas burners to overheat the steel, burns out electric lower elements, and slowly steals capacity. A tank that would cruise to year 12 on soft water can be done at year 7 or 8 here.

The countermeasures are unglamorous and effective: an annual flush to move sediment out, and an anode rod check every few years — the anode is a sacrificial part that corrodes so the tank does not, and a spent one leaves the tank defenseless. In the hardest-water pockets, like well-served properties around China Spring, a softener genuinely changes the math on every water-using appliance in the house.

Age matters most where the heater sits. A 12-year-old tank in a garage fails onto concrete; the same tank in an interior closet fails onto flooring and drywall. If your heater is past 10 and lives somewhere a leak would hurt, planned replacement on your timing — with sizing and tank-versus-tankless decided calmly — beats the emergency version of the same purchase.