I recently had a blu max yard line replaced with copper piping in my 11 year old home. At that time I experienced a loud humming noise anytime the shower or dishwasher was running or even if the the toilet was flushed. The plumber came back out and replaced the water preasure regulator which seem to take care of the noise - especially the shower and dishwasher issue. The toilet issue also seemed to disappear. A couple days later the noise seemed to return when the toilets were flushed - again a humming noise but not like it was before the new regulator was installed. The plumber checked the pipes checked the fittings that hold the pipes but did not see a problem. The plumber replaced the fill valves in all of the toilets and the noise still persists. Upon further research - we were able to hear the noise when the laundry tub was run at full blast but almost unnoticable. He suggested that it might be a bad water meter and to have the water company come look at it. They did and did not hear any odd noises that might cause them to want to replace it. Can someone please help with some sort of advice. Any long shot ideas? By the way the water preasure was tested and it is 60 within the range of 45- 65. Please help this is very frustrating and I am not sure at this point if this is a normal noise having gone from the blu max to copper pipe. In my opinion i cant believe this to be the case. Thanks in advance

 

I would check to be sure that all angle stops and valves are all the way open. If water has to squeeze through a 1/2 open valve it can whistle.

I do not see how a bad water meter is affecting this problem in the least, or even what your plumber means by that.

 

Pauly,

I will verify the valve issue, but it is not a whistle noise it is more of a humming noise - before the humming could be traced back to the location of the water regulator now the origin is a mystery. As far as the water meter from what he said sometimes if the water meter goes bad then the noise from that can be transfered through the pipes. I know that sounds like he is grasping at straws to me as well, but at this point I am open to any ideas. Thanks and if you think of anything else even remotely possible please let me know.

 

Typically your water meter is so far away from the house as to negate this effect, it is possible I suppose but unlikely. He could be grasping at straws, but then again, so am I. If I were on the case I would probably try draining your house of all of it's water and then refill it. Sometimes loose particles of rust or debris are broken loose or flushed into the system when it has been turned off. I would try the draining to possibly remove the chunks.

Could you have loose piping in the walls? Perhaps this is an 11 year old problem that has resurfaced. Excessive friction caused by an extra loopy installation?

 

Put a pressure guage on a hose bibb outside, see what the pressure is at, and then let us know.

 

The preasure is 60 based upon a gauge attached to the outside faucet

 

Take the pressure down to 50 via the PRV valve, see it that stops the humming sounds.

 

Just for my 2 cents worth and reading about your plumber and his water meter theory....Check the new PRV and tell us what direction the arrow is going...

Really sounds like a loose diaphram and you know where.

 

notuboo,

Have you ever installed a PRV in backwards?

I have

You know what happens when it's in backwards?

I do, you get no water pressure past the PRV valve to the house.

 

Hi guys, I reduced the water preasure to 50 last night that unfortunately did not take care of the humming noise.

 

Is this happening in every fixture in the house, or only to the few you talk about?

 

only when you flush the toilets do you really hear any noise - before they replaced the regulator I heard it in everything. I would have thought that the regulator would have solved the problem for everything, but my experience is limited to a novice and what i read about in plumbing books

 

What type of fillvalves you have in the toilet, are they the ball float type?

 

no they are the kind without the ball

 

Ok try this, flush each toilet and start closing the shut off valve for each toilet, if you get it turn down to a point it no longer humms leave them at the point.

 

i will give that a shot and let you know - thanks

 

Well the county came out and checked the meter again - Just like you guys thought not a problem with the meter. They did say that this problem was reported before, but have never been able to track down the root of the problem simply because they are taken out of the loop. As requested I adjusted the valves for the toilets 1 and 3/4 turns from full open and that seemed to get rid of the vibration noise. It does take a little longer for the toilet to fill, but that is not nearly as annoying as the humming and I guess I can live with that having no other option from my plumber or the county. Thanks for all your help guys apprieciate it very much. One more thing - could it be the dirt around the pipe not quite settled causing this issue? Thoughts - Thanks

 

The settling of the dirt should not create the problem.