the bottom? here's. 1 turn off the power or your gas supply to your hot water heater in addition to closing the inlet valve on the top of your tank 2 attach one end of a garden hose to the drain valve at the bottom of your tank and stick the other end in a safe place to drain the water let the tank drain empty. water heater leaking from the bottom? do this. the first places to check if it appears that you have a leak from the bottom of your water heater are the drain valve and temperature & pressure relief valve t&p valve the leak may actually 