Plumbing Noise Diagnosis Checklist
Drain, Waste, Vent & Plumbing Noise Causes & Cures

Plumbing Noise Source List - what causes various kinds of noises traced to plumbing system piping, drains, vents, or fixtures?
- Catalog of sources of noises traced to plumbing system supply pipes, drain waste or vent pipes, or plumbing controls, faucets, or fixtures
Questions & Answers about diagnosing and fixing plumbing noises from all sources
References

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This plumbing drain and vent noise article explains proper plumbing vent piping and how errors cause trap siphonage, odors, and plumbing noises such as gurgling or a glub-glub-glub noise at plumbing drains or fixtures. Plumbing noises from supply piping, water pumps, or other sources are discussed at PLUMBING NOISE CHECKLIST.

Plumbing System Noises in buildings, Causes, Cures: list of sources of plumbing noise

This article explains identifying types of plumbing noises and tracing them to their source. For the broad topic of controlling plumbing noises in buildings see Sound Control for Plumbing

Plumbing System Noises in buildings include these categories

Banging pipes, creaks, rattles, and vibrations: see WATER HAMMER NOISE DIAGNOSE & CURE
Clanging, ringing sounds in buildings are often traced to loose water supply piping, water hammer in supply piping (see WATER HAMMER NOISE DIAGNOSE & CURE) or steam pipe banging and clanging (see Heating System Noises)
Drain piping noises from clogged or partly clogged drains - see CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
Drips at plumbing fixtures may make an obvious drip or splash sound. But dripping water can be tricky to track down. Don't forget to consider
- A small water supply leak inside of a building cavity can produce a noise that is hard to track down. Supply pipe leaks may be continuous (and thus are eventually discovered by water stains or mold) or intermittent, such as a leak around a tub or shower control that drips into the wall cavity only when the valve is turned "on".
- A drain piping leak inside of a building cavity can also produce a noise that is hard to track down. But a drain drip noise should not be present when no fixtures have water running into them. But don't forget that a quietly running toilet can also produce a drip or other plumbing problems downstream from the toilet in the building drain piping.
Plumbing Fixture noises at drains, gurgling, glug glug sounds, burbling, bubbling during drainage when sinks, tubs, or showers drain, or when a toilet is flushed - see NOISE, PLUMBING DRAIN REPAIR - fixing plumbing noises at drains by fixing drain or vent problems and see PLUMBING VENT DEFECTS & NOISES and CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.
Plumbing water supply piping noises include
- Leaks in water pipes outside of the building but in water supply piping coming to the building from a municipal water main or city water piping can produce a humming, hissing, or ringing sound in the building. If you turn off the main water shutoff at the building and listen with a mechanic's stethoscope to the water pipes on the street side of the shutoff valve, comparing this sound to pipes in the building you can identify this problem. See Water Supply/Drain Pipe Leak Types and see WELL PIPING LEAK DIAGNOSIS.
- Running water in the building that is unanticipated, such as a running toilet or intermittent cycling water pump (private well systems) will produce intermittent water pipe noises. See Toilet Runs Continuously and see INTERMITTENT CYCLING WATER PUMPS.
- Water hammer noise: banging or clanking sounds when water faucets are shut off - see WATER HAMMER NOISE DIAGNOSE & CURE
- Water pipe transmission of vibrations in well pumps or other pumps used in the plumbing system - see NOISE, PLUMBING CHECKLIST for details.
Water pump noises: hiss, hum, motor sounds, clunks, or thunks: at water pumps or well pumps. Water pumps can be quite noisy, depending on the pump type and model, and the pump location. If the well pump is a submersible unit located inside the well, normally the only noise you'll observe in the building is the clicking of the pump control relay(s) that turn the pump on or off, and possibly a modest sound of water entering the water pressure tank or building piping.
- Water pump noises change from loud and rattling to a more quiet hum if a pump has lost prime (contains air instead of water) and then regains its prime (contains water). Running a pump "dry" can also destroy it. See WATER PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY.
- But if your well pump is located indoors the pump motor sound can be loud and disturbing. We do not recommend simply surrounding the pump or covering it with fiberglass insulation in contact with the pump or water tank, because condensation can lead to a mold problem. But enclosing a well pump in a utility room that has benefited from sound control insulation can make a big reduction in pump noise heard in the rest of the structure. -- see SOUND CONTROL and also see NOISE, PLUMBING CHECKLIST for details about well pump sound transmission through air or through water piping.
- See INTERMITTENT CYCLING WATER PUMPS for an explanation of water pumps that turn on unexpectedly.
- See SHORT CYCLING WATER PUMP or SHORT CYCLING DIAGNOSIS TABLE if the well pump is turning on and off too frequently
- See WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING if the well pump simply won't stop running at all
- Hissing noise of air escaping at water tanks: air escaping from the air volume control valve on some water pressure tanks, such as the U.S. Gauge Type 310WJ Air Volume Controls makes a hissing noise and is normal but should only occur on occasion, not constantly. Otherwise there is a problem putting too much air into the water tank. See WATER TANK AIR VOLUME CONTROLS.
- A "thunk" or "clunk" sound heard around the water pressure tank or water pressure tank controls can be caused by check valve, control, or piping troubles. See WATER PUMP NOISES for details.
Water pressure tank and water storage tank noises:
- Bubbling and gurgling at the water pressure tank is usually air in the well piping system; look for a leak in the well piping system or low water levels in the well. See AIR DISCHARGE at FAUCETS, FIXTURES
- Clicking at the water pressure tank, especially if the well pump is submersible (in the well and nowhere near the tank itself) is more likely the water pump pressure control relay clicking in and out to turn the pump on and off. If the clicking is rapid, every few seconds, your well pump is short-cycling and needs repair. See SHORT CYCLING WATER PUMP
- Squeals and shrieks from water pressure tank: A squealing water pressure tank sound is often due to water passing through a restricted valve or pipe clog. A high pitched shriek or whine also occurs during fill-ups of water tanks whose water level is controlled by a float. In that case the noise seems to come from a combination of stick float mechanism that may not fully open the fill valve and thus a partial restriction in the water line. Shrieking from a water pressure tank that incorporates a bladder may be due to a partly collapsed bladder or obstruction at the tank entrance fittings.
Running toilets - may produce a high pitched sound, or may be silent but sill running
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS may include pumps that produce noise in the building - see Pump Noises above.
Plumbing drain piping or plumbing fixture noise diagnosis and cure - - see NOISE, PLUMBING DRAIN REPAIR - fixing plumbing noises at drains by fixing drain or vent problems and see PLUMBING VENT DEFECTS & NOISES and CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR. Also see NOISE CONTROL for PLUMBING where we describe reducing the annoying sounds of normal plumbing system piping and fixtures.
Plumbing Supply piping noises, including a high-pitched hissing or whistling sound may be heard as water runs through building supply piping. This sound should stop immediately when you turn off any fixture that is running water in the building. You may be able to stop or reduce plumbing supply piping noise by changing the water system pressure at a municipal water supply valve.

Try first just slightly reducing the incoming water pressure. See WATER PRESSURE REGULATOR ADJUSTMENT. We have also corrected this noise by slightly closing the main water shutoff valve at a municipal supply to adjust the incoming water flow rate.

If your water pipes are making a banging or clanging sound at the moment when water is turned off, see WATER HAMMER NOISE DIAGNOSE & CURE
. Plumbing vent piping-caused plumbing system noises and odors - At PLUMBING VENT NOISES we explain the basics of proper plumbing vent piping and how errors cause trap siphonage, odors, and noises.
- See   PLUMBING DRAIN NOISES
    PLUMBING DRAIN NOISE DIAGNOSIS
    PLUMBING DRAIN NOISE REPAIR
    PLUMBING VENT DEFINITIONS & CODES
    PLUMBING VENT DEFECTS & NOISES
  PLUMBING VENT NOISES
- Also see CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.
- See NOISE CONTROL for PLUMBING for a discussion about insulation and sound proofing of building plumbing
- Also see WINTERIZE A BUILDING - how to protect a building and its plumbing and mechanical systems from freeze damage, how to shut down a building to minimize damage; how to de-winterize a building.
Water heater noises: see WATER HEATER NOISES - identify and cure noises at water heaters such as rumbling, clanking, burbling, hissing, and clinking noises observed at water heaters. Also there may be noises at the water heater due to oil or gas burner problems. See OIL BURNER NOISE SMOKE ODORS.
Water tank noises: Bubbling sounds if air is being forced into the water tank from an air leak in well piping, low well water level, or from an air volume control. Hissing noise of air escaping at water tanks: see WATER TANK AIR VOLUME CONTROLS.
Other advice about controlling normal plumbing noises in buildings by controlling sound transmission is at SOUND CONTROL for PLUMBING.

At PLUMBING DRAIN VENTS we explain the basics of proper plumbing vent piping and how errors cause trap siphonage, odors, and plumbing noises. We discuss how to diagnose and cure plumbing drain sounds at PLUMBING DRAIN NOISE DIAGNOSIS.

Other advice about controlling plumbing noises in buildings is at SOUND CONTROL for PLUMBING. More details about plumbing drain line venting can be found at PLUMBING VENT DEFINITIONS & CODES, also PLUMBING VENT DEFECTS & NOISES and at CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
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  Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on these courses: Enter INSPECTAHITP in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference Book, a reference & inspection report product for building owners & inspectors.
  Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
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  Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter inspectaehrb in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Illustrated Home illustrates construction details and building components, a reference for owners & inspectors.
  Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Illustrated Home purchased as a single order Enter INSPECTAILL in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Horizon Software System manages business operations,scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images. The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones.
Developments in Noise Control, NRCC, National Research Council, Canada, suggestions for noise control, sound transmission through block walls, plumbing noise control, noise leaks, and sound control advice. Web search 01/17/2011, original source: https://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/irc/bsi/90-noise-control.html
Oakville Stamping & Bending, 2200 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ontario Canada L6L 2X8 (905) 827-0320 or (905) 827-6375 FAX - Email: osb@osb.ca produces and supplies the V-200 automatic plumbing vent.

We believe ProVent and the V-200 are spring-loaded siphon breaker valves and are not approved in some code jurisdictions. The Sealing Disc of the V-200 automatic plumbing vent anti siphon valve must be located at least 6" above the top of the trap arm. NOTE: An Angle Mounting of no more than 15 degrees from the Vertical is acceptable. Location of the V-200 is no way related to the flood level of the fixture that it's venting. The V-200 functions equally well above or below the flood level of any fixture in the home. - V-200 ABS Auto Trap Vent product description, V-200 anti siphon valve installation instructions from manufacturer Oakville Stamping & Bending.
STUDOR is a good example of an approved air admittance valve. These devices do not include a spring, only a diaphragm. This makes them more mechanically reliable. OATEY also makes an air admittance valves, possibly also spring-loaded auto vent types.

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

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The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

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