No hot water with a dry unit is a different decision from active water at the tank base.
Loss of hot water, noisy operation, relief discharge, and a leaking tank body are not interchangeable. Keep gas and electrical safety boundaries intact and avoid resetting a tripping control repeatedly just to restore service.
Keep this boundary: Scale is one possible contributor, not proof of the failed part. The district report shows varied hardness results and calls hardness a quality issue.