Hot water heater "problems"

The other day, I noticed that the brand-new, very expensive hot water heater seemed to be leaking. This is what had happened with the old one and was what prompted us to replace it. The neighbors' hot water heater had actually exploded a few months ago and all of these houses were built at the same time. A hot water heater certainly needs to be replaced every 10-15 years and ours was about 14 years old.

So anyway. I ignored the leak and hoped it would stop. Avoidance is my go-to strategy, always.
Eight hours later, it leaked again. I ignored it one more time.  Later that night, it leaked again and so I finally took a few pictures and emailed them to Scott, trying not to panic. All I could really think was all the ramifications that would occur if the hot water heater stopped working. I won't bore you with that stream of consciousness.

Scott emailed me back right away.

It's supposed to drip from there (the white pvc pipe). It uses an air exchanger in hybrid mode, meaning it runs air across coils to heat the water. If there is humidity in the air, it will naturally drip water. This will get worse as it gets hotter and will also be worse on days when the air is more humid. Nothing to worry about. Love you.

Therefore, this was not a problem. One less thing, right?