Draining a 40 gallon water tank

[harryb18]

I live in Long Island and my house was flooded as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
I had to replace my boiler and my hot water heater as well as everything else I had on the first floor. My problem as I found out by my Oil Company is that the plumber I used to install my boiler obviously did not know what he was doing he did not leave a bleed off valve for my boiler or drain for my water tank. I recently hired a licensed plumber who tells me that he may have to flood my boiler room to get the water out of my water tank. Does this sound like the appropriate way to resolve my problem? Please let me know if there is any way that I can have him drain the tank without creating a flood.

Thank you,

Harry

 

[johnjh2o]

Post a picture. Water heater drains are installed by the manufacture. As far as the boiler it depends on what you have.

 

[harryb18]

Thanks for your reply John,
This is not a water heater its a water tank the hot water is supplied by the boiler.
Unfortunately, the plumber that installed it did not add a drain valve in order for me to drain the tank. I'll be happy to provide a picture if this helps.

Harry

 

[havasu]

Couldn't you drain into a large bucket and use a cheap, Harbor Freight sump pump to pump it out properly?

 

[harryb18]

Unfortunately the pipes leading to and going out of the tank are about 6" above the ground so I can't use a large bucket. I'm wondering if there is something I could attache to the drain pipe which would allow me to drill into the pipe and also has an attachment for a drain.

 

[johnjh2o]

Post a picture.

 

[harryb18]

Hi John,

Sorry for the delay attached is the picture of the Water tank

 

[johnjh2o]

Can't see that much of the tank but from what I can see it looks like a heat ex-changer. The two lines that I can see go into a coil that heats the water in the tank. The line that feeds the domestic system should come off the top of the tank. There should also be a drain on the bottom of the tank. (Not seen in the picture) A drain on the lines that can be seen would drain just the coil not the water in the tank.