I hate the ink stuff, the taste doesn't seem to go away until August.

I just open up the spigots and hold the shop vac to it, making a loose seal with my hands, keep running until the fine spray of water goes away.

I have by now replaced all the copper with plastic, a few drops of frozen water won't hurt. And a quarter inch of water at the bottom of the tank can freeze without harming anything.

I still put some pink stuff in the water heater by siphoning it in through the galley faucet, with the shop vac at the inlet tube.

--Karl