I want to know how to drain the water and get the lime out of the tank

the salt water is what removes the calcium and lime from the other tank containing the compound zeolite that does the actual softning of the water the salt tank should have water in it drain some out pour in salt

Assuming that the flow control is not defective, your water heater may be limed shut.
Heating water (especially 'hard' water) causes calcium to precipitate out and build up in the bottom of the tank which can cause poor recovery and if heavy enough, reduced flow.

Check yours and you should find a drain located near the bottom of it.
Attaching a garden hose to this and opening the provided valve will allow you to flush out the loose lime.
You should turn off the AC or gas supply before doing this to stop the heater from trying to reheat while you are emptying it.

Good luck-

well the tank is made of brass and copper. That takes away that it is the unit. It sounds like lime buildup. Now what does happen as water goes into the tank and heats up lime will remain in the tank. Then as time goes buy it then starts to get to heavy and relesase itself and then the clog effect it taking place.

the best thing you can do now is reverse flow water into the tank and wash it out, its call beack washing. Yu can buy some products to put in at first to help break it down and then you get ore out.

With the new whole house units they now install a vakve set that has two way valves so you can backwash the tanks and stay ontop of the lime.

You must be asking where does the linme come from, well it starts at the well where the water department gets there water. then it goes into a filtering system and they use a lime to act as the filter agent then it heads out to the system and coats the pipes all along the way. I have cut 16 inch pipe and there was solid inch of lime caked inside.

I tell many people if yuo looking inside the water system yo would never drink the water. You might want to think about getting a whole house filter system to slow down the kime that geets in.

Thanks so much be safe in all that you do.

Yom

Hey, take a second and rate our service this way we know if we are doing a good job or tell how we can do better:)

You posted under water heaters.
Always let a water heater cool off before draining.
Hot water can cause serious burns. Immediately put burned area into cool water.

There are different types of water heaters, and each might drain and flush differently.
Open following link for typical gas and electric tank-type:
http://waterheatertimer.org/Clean-sediment-out-of-water-heater.html#flush

To drain and flush tankless, it can be called de-liming tankless.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Troubleshoot-Rheem-Tankless-water-heater.html#de-lime
Be sure to read tankless manual for instructions and advisories, and required maintenance.

If you have boiler, or indirect water heater, solar water heater, or RV heater, the instructions above may not apply. be very careful with a boiler due to extreme high temperatures.
Add a comment and give more information about heater, for possible help.

Upvote the help.
And take advantage of fixya expert assistance live.
For a price, expert works with you while you work on water heater or any do-it-yourself project.
Fixya is always less expensive than a service call.

You are correct.Also check the tank for lime.By unplugging and removing top of machine (2) screws and remove fill basin.You can then remove your t-stat probe to check.If it is lime up you can crack off the lime and reinstall it in the tank.If limed up I would suggest de-liming.T-stat part# 4314.0001.

Bypass valve incorrectly set
obstruction or dirty tank
plugged line - lime or other! does cold flow into tank ok?
Tank is split water going somewhere you can't see - this should be obvious.

There is not really anything to obstruct the flow normally so there
would have to be an obstruction somewhere. Lime, junk, garbage etc build up .
On my coach I have lots of pressure on the cold side so hot would have to have the same unless there is an obstruction into or out of the tank. If in the bypass position you have sufficient flow than the lines are ok and the problem or obstruction is in the tank itself. Drain the tank, leave the bottom plug out, open up the pressure relief valve. Turn on the water and see if you get a lot of water draining from the drain hole on the tank. There should be a lot of water coming out of the drain hole. If so that tells you that your getting sufficient flow into the hot water tank. If so your problem is the water getting out of the tank. Like a clogged return line or an obstruction from the water tank to the faucet. A dirty scale lined tank can do a number on tank water flow. Also check to see if the water is going somewhere else, your tank could be split and you just can't see where the water is going!

clean the pump tank out you may have lime building up in there stopping the unit from pumping or the float switch is stuck

Best regards
Tinner
Sunsetmech

lime and calsium deposits build up over time in the bottom of the tank. you may have to remove lower element and with a wet dry vac cln out the tank

There are several possible reasons for this problem. Not knowing your variables as such, I will go thru a couple of the most common reasons.
Most likely, your water heater is older and has lost its efficiency due to lime build up in the tank that settles out of the water that is stored in it. This covers the bottom of the tank where the burner is if it is gas and prevents a good thermal conductivity to the water. As you shower the heater does not recover fast enough to replace the hot water used. The same effect will happen with an electric water heater when the lime build up covers the electric coils that heat the water.
You can try to drain down the tank with the spigot at the bottom of the tank to get some of the lime out, but usually if you do that at this point, it will not remedy the situation enough to make a big difference. If this is the problem, a new water heater will be the way to go.
You can also check the setting on the thermostat and see if it is set too low. 190 F is about the normal setting. If you go much higher, you risk scalding. If your heater is new, it may be set a little low, but not usually so. You can nudge it up for temporary fix for the above lime problem, however you are only prolonging the inevitable of replacing the water heater.
Unless this is a new installation, it is most likely lime build up.
If you have an electric water heater, you may also have one of the two heating elements gone bad. There is one at the top of the tank, and one at the bottom. If they are not both good, the tank will not recover fast enough when you are using it.

There usually is an anode rod in a water heater that is there to attract the lime from the water. This helps prevent lime build up in the bottom of the tank and makes it last longer. However, the downside of this is the sulfur smell that comes as a result of the anodization (chemical) process. You could remove the rod and plug the hole in the heater to eliminate the smell. You'd give up some length of service as a result.