"James Post" > wrote
>
> The water in my hot water heater tastes nasty. Much worse than the
> cold water.

Very common. This come sup on the home repair newsgroups often. Sometimes
you get a sulfur type odor from a reaction with the anode. If you replace
it with a different material anode, it goes away. It also helps to flush
the bottom of the tank one a month or so.