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Water heater flushes and tankless descaling in the City of Fairfax and on the county side. $99 for a tank flush right now.
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Rather talk now? (703) 997-9757
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews
Two of our technicians in a customer’s basement, next to the furnace and a tank water heater.
Licensed and insuredVirginia Class A contractor #2705192276
24/7 emergency serviceOften same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Our own plumbers, our own trucksNobody here is a subcontractor with a magnet on the door
The price is settled before the workYou see the number in writing before anything is taken apart
What it costs
Same prices as our water heater flush page, anywhere in Northern Virginia, and you pay after the visit.
Tank water heater flush, with the plumbing check
$99, normally $199
Tankless descale, with the plumbing check
$300, regularly $350
Comfort+ membership, a water heater flush with a sewer camera inspection every year included
$199 a year
Both visits include a whole-home plumbing check: supply lines, shutoffs, a pressure reading, drains, toilets and traps.
One per household, owner-occupied homes, limited time. A leaking tank, or one that’s 15 years old, needs repair or replacement, not a flush.
More for the money: Comfort+ membership, $199 a year, includes the flush and its plumbing check every year, plus a sewer camera inspection, a dryer vent cleaning and heating and cooling maintenance visits.
What’s different in Fairfax
Since January 3, 2014, when Fairfax Water bought the City of Fairfax water system, a house off Old Lee Highway and a townhouse in Fair Lakes have been drinking the same water. Fairfax Water’s 2025 lab figures ranged from 3.0 to 10.8 grains per gallon across its two plants, and the number doesn’t sit still: the Potomac plant went from 70 milligrams per liter in May to 185 in November. Late summer and fall water is the hard stuff.
What differs is the houses. The City and Mantua are mostly single-family homes, the median one built in the 1960s, where the water heater has been swapped out a couple of times and sits in the basement near a floor drain. Kings Park West runs to 1970s houses and townhouses. Fair Oaks and Merrifield are about half condo and apartment buildings, where the heater hides in a closet over a pan.
In the City about seven in ten owner homes heat with gas, and if the water heater is gas too, the flush includes the burner and the draft hood. A gas tank that pops loudly is boiling water up through a crust of sediment right over the flame, and that’s the one we’d move up the list.
About two percent of Fairfax County homes run on private wells rather than public water, per the county. If yours is one of them there’s no utility report to lean on, and a water test gives you the hardness to plan around.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
Census figures for each place, and what we’d look at first on a flush there. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What we’d look at first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Oaks | 1995 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Closet heaters over a pan: we flush to a bucket or the laundry drain. |
| City of Fairfax | 1966 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older houses on their second or third heater: we read the label first. |
| Fairfax Station | 1982 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | A yearly flush, and a look at the anode rod. |
| Kings Park West | 1976 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | Older houses on their second or third heater: we read the label first. |
| Merrifield | 1990 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Closet heaters over a pan: we flush to a bucket or the laundry drain. |
| Fair Lakes | 1998 | townhouses, about 3 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | A yearly flush, and a look at the anode rod. |
| Long Branch | 1968 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older houses on their second or third heater: we read the label first. |
| Mantua | 1968 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older houses on their second or third heater: we read the label first. |
By the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Most of the Fairfax Station Census place, in the table, has Fairfax mail, so it counts here.
When it’s due
That valve opens when the tank sees too much pressure or heat. Fairfax Water doesn’t promise an even pressure, so in a Fairfax house it often points to a tired expansion tank or a pressure reducing valve that’s drifted, and the pressure reading that comes with the flush tells you which.
That’s water boiling under a layer of sediment on the bottom of the tank. A flush clears it out.
Which is most houses. The drain valve at the bottom of the tank has usually never been opened.
Choosing who does it
Questions worth asking anybody you call, us included.
Almost never. Tanks rarely make it past their mid-teens, so a 1960s house is on its third or fourth. The label gives the build date, and that tells us whether a flush is worth doing.
The anode is the part that corrodes so the tank doesn’t, and the relief valve is the tank’s safety valve. A flush that skips both is just draining water.
A real descale isolates the heater at its service valves and pumps solution through the heat exchanger, then rinses it and cleans the inlet screen.
Two of our crew going over a work order before the day's calls.
From our Google reviews
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
I would gladly recommend them to anyone in the greater Fairfax/Alexandria area without reservation.
Swiftpro came out the same day I called when my AC was out and had it fixed in less than an hour after arriving.
I had a really pleasant personal experience with Swiftpro when my water heater went out. The pricing was very reasonable compared to the many other HVAC companies I sought quotes from. I highly recommend them
Questions
No. Fairfax Water took over the City’s system in January 2014, so both sides get the same supply: 3.0 to 10.8 grains per gallon in 2025. One yearly flush covers either side.
Because the river is. Fairfax Water’s Potomac plant measured 70 milligrams per liter in May 2025 and 185 by November. The heater sees the whole year of it, which is why we go by the high end.
$99 right now for a tank, normally $199, with a whole-home plumbing check. A tankless descale is $300 right now, regularly $350. Comfort+ membership, $199 a year, includes the flush every year.
Ready when you are
Call, or send the form at the top. Tell us tank or tankless, and the tech brings the right gear.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
4230 Lafayette Center Dr N, Chantilly, VA 20151
44679 Endicott Dr, Suite 211, Ashburn, VA 20147
Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Fairfax and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
From SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Chantilly. Housing figures are the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024, for each place named; permit, water and sewer facts link to each office’s own page and were checked in September and October 2026.