Get a Rheem Marathon hot water heater and permanently do away with sacrificial anodes.

So much about construction drives me nuts. After sweating bullets over microscopic details of software design to find the balance between durability, longevity, readability, reliability, maintainability, security, etc., it comes as a huge shock to see the lack of attention to detail in most "professional" construction.

On the other hand, most people aren't as bothered as I am about spending so much of a lifetime paying for a good that deteriorates to pretty much nil at the the end of that lifetime.