Water Heater Question

[2B4Him]

Actually, TWO water heater questions.
On the photo, I have circled in red a piece of equipment that is attached to the water heater in the office of our storage facility. It is plumbed to the input (cold) pipe on the water heater. It appears to be leaking. So, my questions are:
1. What the heck is it?
2. Do I need to replace it, or can I just cap the pipe going to it and remove it?
Thanks.

[bakin7005]

Expansion tank

[Mike Murphey]

That's a red neck hot water heater set up.....you need to get a plumber over there and see why someone installed it...

[Todd-ty729]

That is an expansion tank.

They normally have a threaded connection and are relatively easy to replace.

Very common for them to rust out and leak. Long story as to why so just have it replaced.

[Jen-Man]

Never have I ever seen such a thing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk