You are absolutely correct in that this is a shoddy installation. The term "Plumber" itself is derived from the root word "Plumb" Thus a Plumber is one who installs things "Square & Plumb".
All the codes define that pipe, regardless of what material it is made of, must be run, fastened and secured in such a manner as to not cause any unneccessary stress to the pipe, joints or fitting.
I also have a couple other questions in regard to this installation.
Is this a side inlet tank? Normally side inlets are only found on smaller convenience or booster heater tanks in the 10 to 20 gal range. Judging by the dimensions you listed I would estimate this tank approximately 48" tall, which would then be typically a 30 or 40 gal tank.
Under rare circumstances, such as an older tank with a damaged cold water dip tube the bottom drain valve can be removed, a Tee installed, and the cold water line attached to the side opening of the TEE with the drain valve attached on the end of the TEE.
When installing a recirculating system with a dedicated return line, the return line is often attached to a TEE in the above manner, but when doing so, there must be check valve installed on the cold water inlet line between the shutoff valve and the tank. There is no mention of a check valve here so I ruled out a recirculation system.
My question now are:
1. Why is the cold water line attached to the bottom of the tank?
2.Is the copper line attached directly to the tank? The codes all prohibit directly coupling copper pipe to iron pipe or vessels. You are required to make the transition from copper to iron by means of dielectric unions, dielectric nipples or a 6" hardened bronze nipple.
3. Is there a union on the cold water supply line? The codes require a union within 12" of the top of the tank to permit changing the tank.
4. If this is a top inlet tank, and they opted to attach the cold water line to the bottom of the tank in the place of the drain valve, did they install a TEE to make provision for the required drain valve?
You did not mention if this is an Elecric or a Gas fired water heater. I am attaching a drawing with the typical layout of attachements for both a top inlet tank and a side inlet tank.
