HandymanWire -Hot Water Heater Questions and Answers It could be a couple of things. Although it is only 1-1/2 years old the safety valve could be bad, which means it needs to be replaced? Most likely sediment has built up around the valve. Try flushing it out. Place a bucket under the blow down tube from the valve. Quickly open and close the valve a couple of times to clean it out. If it still leaks replace the valve. You should also clean out the tank itself, to get rid of sediment. Shut off the water supply to the heater. Turn the temperature control to low and the on-off to "pilot". Connect a hose to the drain valve at the bottom and run the hose outside or to a drain. Drain the tank down and then open the water supply to force the sediment out. Close the drain, refill the tank, and reset the controls to normal. There is a good article in the current issue of This Old House magazine about water heater maintenance.