humming in water system

[joesxm3]

This is probably going to sound bizarre, but it has happened at least three times.

I just used the kitchen sink cold water faucet to fill a one gallon humidifier container and I started hearing a loud humming sound. The sound seemed loudest in the first floor bathroom. I have a Toto toilet. When I flushed the toilet the humming sound stopped.

The first time this happened I am not sure if I was using the water in the kitchen sink or not.

The second time was after a meal and my stepfather was using the kitchen sink to wash dishes.

Any idea what might be causing this?

[edit] I probably should have used Google first. I just did and it seems to imply that water pressure is too high, which would maybe track with lowering the pressure by flushing the toilet.

[edit2]

I went down in the basement and looked at the gauge on the water tank. The first time I could not read it but the arrow was straight up (35?) after using water for a little bit but without humming the arrow was a bit to the right and pointing at "4". Would that be 40 libs?

What controls the water pressure in the tank? Something on the tank that triggers the well pump to go on and off?

 

[Qs Laptop]

I don't know what a Toto toilet is, but you might have a faulty fill valve inside your toilet. I'm guessing the humming sound from your first floor bathroom occurs after you've shut off a faucet elsewhere in the house. The humming sound last a couple of seconds before tapering off and quitting. Is that about right?

While you wait in the first floor bathroom have someone else in the household turn a faucet on/off in the kitchen. See if you can reproduce the humming noise. Try to locate its origin.

I had a similar problem in my house but I would describe the noise as a squeaking sound. The culprit was a small rubber diaphragm inside the shut-off valve of the fill tube. After shutting off the water supply to the toilet I removed the top of the fill tube to get access to the rubber diaphragm. I removed the rubber diaphragm and put a light coating of Vaseline on it and replaced it and the sound went away. Well, sound went away for about a week and then came back. Eventually I had to replace the fill tube.

I theorize the sound is created when water pressure is applied to the faulty diaphragm and it vibrates temporarily until it fully seals.

 

[joesxm3]

Is the water pressure shown on the tank gauge the same as if I measured it at a faucet as some Google articles say to do.

I will try your suggestions and try to recreate the sound but does not seem to happen every time.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Is the water pressure shown on the tank gauge the same as if I measured it at a faucet as some Google articles say to do.

I will try your suggestions and try to recreate the sound but does not seem to happen every time.

Can't comment on the water pressure gauge, except to say I doubt the water pressure in your water pipes have changed much over time. More likely it is a component used to turn water on/off, like a flush fill valve, that is causing the problem.

Try running water for 30 seconds in the kitchen sink, then shut off. Try turning water on/off rapidly. Let us know if you can reproduce the sound.

 

[street]

Not sure if you have your own well or if you are on a public water system. I can say with some experience on having a private system though. A humming sound can be a leak someplace in your system even from a leaking seeping toilet. The sound can come from a loss of pressure too.

Just my 2¢. I hope you find the issue, good luck!!

 

[joesxm3]

I have a well with a pump at the bottom of the well.

I will try to recreate the issue and gather more data when it happens, but it has been only 3 times in two weeks.

Does the fact that the hum is loudest in the bathroom provide any clues. Leak related to toilet maybe?

I will check the tank gauge next time while the hum is happening.

 

[street]

I have a well with a pump at the bottom of the well.

I will try to recreate the issue and gather more data when it happens, but it has been only 3 times in two weeks.

Does the fact that the hum is loudest in the bathroom provide any clues. Leak related to toilet maybe?

I will check the tank gauge next time while the hum is happening.

The bathroom maybe the furthest from source? Yes, any small leak or loss could make that sound on your own system. It might be a very small pressure loss somewhere.

 

[freedomatlast]

When we lived in a house that had a private well, we had a similar issue.

After checking everything several times over the course of several weeks, I finally found the noise was coming from a brass check valve that was located on the 3/4" copper pipe which was the main line bringing water into the house through the basement. Since my hearing isn't as sharp as it used to be after 40+ years in industry, I used a mechanic's stethoscope to help pinpoint the source of the noise.

I swapped out the check valve and never heard the noise again.

 

[street]

When we lived in a house that had a private well, we had a similar issue.

After checking everything several times over the course of several weeks, I finally found the noise was coming from a brass check valve that was located on the 3/4" copper pipe which was the main line bringing water into the house through the basement. Since my hearing isn't as sharp as it used to be after 40+ years in industry, I used a mechanic's stethoscope to help pinpoint the source of the noise.

I swapped out the check valve and never heard the noise again.

Very good information for OP. I would say the check valve was leaking back and not closing properly, and the loss of water in system created the humming sound. A very realistic issue that could be the problem.

 

[AZ2020]

We had a pressure regulator on our house that started making noise every morning. More of a squeal than a moan, but annoying all the same.

It was failing. We replaced it and the noise stopped.

 

[ls99]

So what tune was it humming?

 

[njhowie]

What controls the water pressure in the tank? Something on the tank that triggers the well pump to go on and off?

Your well water tank has a diaphragm in it. The water tank is pressurized with air. The pump is triggered to fill the tank when pressure gets low. As the pump fills the tank, pressure builds and when high enough tells the pump to stop. If you look at the top of your tank, you may see a small red plastic cap. Pull it off and you'll see an air Schrader valve just like on a tire and you pressurize the tank using a normal air pump. If you google you can find the procedure for repressurizing. You should have a sticker or metal plate on the tank which indicates the base air pressure. I'm away from home, but a psi in the 30s sticks in my head.

 

[joesxm3]

Your well water tank has a diaphragm in it. The water tank is pressurized with air. The pump is triggered to fill the tank when pressure gets low. As the pump fills the tank, pressure builds and when high enough tells the pump to stop. If you look at the top of your tank, you may see a small red plastic cap. Pull it off and you'll see an air Schrader valve just like on a tire and you pressurize the tank using a normal air pump. If you google you can find the procedure for repressurizing. You should have a sticker or metal plate on the tank which indicates the base air pressure. I'm away from home, but a psi in the 30s sticks in my head.

Thanks. I will try to take a look for that stuff.

 

[Sunset]

We have a kitchen faucet where the hot water valve is not working correctly.
If we turn the tap on too far , it will make the water pipes give off a stuttering/chattering (slow hum ?) sound.

I need to replace the taps, as can figure out how to replace the stupid valve.

 

[ncbill]

We had a pressure regulator on our house that started making noise every morning. More of a squeal than a moan, but annoying all the same.

It was failing. We replaced it and the noise stopped.

After buying their home a relative discovered reduced water flow even though static water pressure was high.

Turned out the previous owner was too cheap to replace the sediment filter and so was just cranking up the pressure regulator when their filter started to clog and reduce flow...

 

[SecondAttempt]

If you have a well with a pump and charge tank then you have a pressure regulating switch that turns the pump on when the pressure drops below a set value then pumps water until the pressure exceeds a higher set value. Usually you can't adjust the pressure set values but you can buy the switches in different pressure ranges. Sometimes you can adjust the pressure. The switches cost about $20 or so and they can go bad.

35-40 psi is low for household water pressure. Normal is 60-70 psi. I can't think of any reason why low pressure would cause the symptoms you describe but replacing the switch might be a troubleshooting step.

Read more here: https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-well-pressure-switch-and-how-does-it-work

 

[SecondAttempt]

Is the water pressure shown on the tank gauge the same as if I measured it at a faucet as some Google articles say to do.

It will be close but you lose 4-5 psi for every story you go up in your house. If the gauge reads 35 in the basement you would measure about 30 psi on the first floor faucets.

If your filters are after the gauge you will lose a few psi across the filters depending on flow rate and and filter loading/design.

 

[Gremlin]

So what tune was it humming?

Black Water.

 

[ERD50]

... I went down in the basement and looked at the gauge on the water tank. The first time I could not read it but the arrow was straight up (35?) after using water for a little bit but without humming the arrow was a bit to the right and pointing at "4". Would that be 40 libs?

What controls the water pressure in the tank? Something on the tank that triggers the well pump to go on and off?

Another thing that is very important - watch that gauge as water is drawn in the house. The pressure regulator switch should turn the well pump on/off to control the pressure. They typically turn ON when pressure drops to ~ 45 PSI, and OFF when pressure reaches 60 PSI. You will need to draw enough water to see a complete cycle. If you just watch at some random time, the pressure might be rising (well pump is ON and filling the pressure tank), or it might be falling (well pump is OFF, and tank is being drained down).

The important things is, when it drops to the low pressure and turns ON, it should take a minute or more to fill the tank and turn OFF. If it takes less than a minute, the tank isn't set right and/or the diaphragm is leaking. In the worst case, the pump shuts on/off every time you draw water,and sometimes as you draw water. ON/OFF every few seconds is very bad for the pump. A short cycle on the well pump will burn it out in short order, and is generally expensive to replace.

Everyone on a private well should monitor their ON/OFF cycles regularly (once/month?) to avoid an expensive repair.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

... The first time I could not read it but the arrow was straight up (35?) after using water for a little bit but without humming the arrow was a bit to the right and pointing at "4". Would that be 40 libs? ...

.... Read more here: https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-well-pressure-switch-and-how-does-it-work

Good info there. I also noticed they showed a gauge that indicated pressure in "Bar" rather than "PSI". A "bar" is one atmosphere, ~ 14.5 PSI

3 Bar is ~ 44 PSI
4 Bar is ~ 58 PSI

OP, can you post a picture of the gauge?

-ERD50

 

[SecondAttempt]

OP, can you post a picture of the gauge?

-ERD50

And maybe the area around the gear in your basement including the tank and pump. I don't think it will help us help you diagnose the problem but we can at least explain what each component is.

Those tanks can be tricky. They have a bladder inside and air pressure is used to fill the bladder to some pressure then as the pump adds more water to the tank it compresses the bladder and the pressure increases. It is the bladder pressure that actually pushes the water through your plumbing. There are a couple of things that can happen - the bladder can leak and partly fill with water and it can fail completely. The precharge pressure can also leak out the schraeder valve and end up being too low. For the first problem you will need a new tank in most cases. The second problem can be solved with a bicycle pump. Fortunately it does not sound like your tank is the cause of your humming.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Humming implies a vibration, an oscillation. There are only two things I can think of offhand that would cause this in a home system - pressure fluctuations or cavitation. Pressure fluctuation could come from something like a check valve that is malfunctioning as someone mentioned. I could see a toilet valve doing this as well.

Cavitation happens when the water moves so fast that it vaporizes in the pipe and the sound you hear is the bubbles. For a fluid, as the speed goes up the pressure goes down. If you have some kind of obstruction, possible even a slighty open valve, you could get cavitation when the flow rate is high. If you have filters then you might valve them off to change them. If this is a new problem check that the valves isolating the filters are fully open.

This can be hard to track down because pipes are good conductors of sound so the place you hear the noise the loudest may have nothing to do with the underlying problem.

Good luck

 

[joesxm3]

I will get pictures, but it ma not be for a day or two. I hurt my knee and have to let it recover.

 

[joesxm3]

Here are some pictures.

I can see that the gauge has both PSI and the single digits that I saw the first time and that my PSI is higher than I was saying.

The yellow plug in one picture is from my wood chipper and not part of the water system.

I am guessing that there is a water line coming in from the well pump and the brass thing is a check valve. The faucet must be to drain the tank. The thin handle is the master cut off to the house. There is another faucet knob off to the left in one picture but I did not notice it until I looked at the pictures later.

I am guessing that the grey thing is the control unit and the blue conduit has wires going back to control the pump. There is some electrical stuff on the wall that I did not think to take a picture of.

Sorry that the pictures came out sideways. Not sure how that happened. They were right up on my computer.

 

[SecondAttempt]

It looks like your pressure is good. The brass thing could be a check valve or a pressure reducer/limiter and could definitely be suspect. Could also be a backflow preventer (a check valve) to keep household water from going back into the well.

Since you can't recreate the problem on demand I might try the following - turn the water on high somewhere in the house and watch the gauge. It should not flucuate but should decrease until it hits the point where the pump turns on then should steadily go back up to the high pressure setpoint where the pump shuts off. If it wiggle around or anything that could indicate a problem.