Another Atwood Anode rod question

Agree with the bleach as stated above. Tip: After draining your water heater, you can add bleach water using your winterizing connection. Add a stronger solution of bleach in a bucket of water, and pump it in the water heater with the winterizing set-up. Of course, keep the bypass open so the water will fill. Once you pump a couple gallons of very strong bleach water, then fill the tank the rest of the way with regular water. The added water with then dilute the stronger bleach. Let it sit a couple hours, drain, fill the water heater again, drain to flush it out. You may need to repeat a couple times until the bleach smell is gone.

But, the easier way is to use the winterizing process to fill the tank. FYI, this works very well.