There's air in your pipes: If your pipes make a funny moaning or whining sound when you turn on a faucet, it could mean that there is air caught in your pipes. If this is the case, something is up with your bleed-off system.
Replace Old Pipe Mounts: When you run hot water through your pipes, they can start to expand, leading them to bang against your pipe mounts. If this is happening in your home, you can easily solve the problem by installing plastic pipe clamps that enable expansion without the loud moaning.
A foghorn sound in your plumbing could be a number of things. It may be a faulty ballcock in the toilet, a loose faucet washer, or a valve in the washing machine. It may also be permeating your entire house, in which case it could be from loose or old pipes or a malfunctioning regulator.
To resolve this problem, you can tighten the screws or replace the washer. If the sound continues or gets even louder, call a plumber. Inside the Walls: Sometimes it is difficult to discover where exactly the foghorn sound is coming from and it can oftentimes be coming from behind your walls.
If your pipes sound like they're humming, it's likely a water pressure issue. When the water pressure is high, it can cause the water pipes to vibrate and create a humming sound. High water pressure is more common if you have a well for your water, but it can happen with municipal water as well.
To make matters worse, loud noises coming from your piping can actually be an indicator of a bad plumbing problem or series of plumbing problems in your pipes. If left untreated, these clogging and drainage issues can become disastrous over time.
Fortunately, noisy pipes are not often cause for concern if dealt with properly. The issue usually lies with simple issues that you can either handle yourself, or that can be dealt with through a routine call-out.
Water Hammer
When you flush the toilet, it opens a valve to allow more water in. Water hammer happens when the valve suddenly shuts off, resulting in water with no place to go. This incident causes the excess water to hit the walls of your pipes at high speed, resulting in a rattling or hammering sound.
If you're ready to soundproof your water pipes, you have two main options. You can either wrap the pipes with noise blocking materials or fill the cavities around the pipes with sound absorption products. Using both noise blocking and sound absorption materials can eliminate the sounds of pipes in your home.
If your water pressure is set too high as it moves into your home, it can cause your pipes to vibrate. This vibration often makes a humming sound in your pipes. Home water pressure should typically be between 40 and 60 psi and anything more than that is a signal your water pressure is too high.
High-Pitched Noise from Water Pipes
High-pitched whistling from the plumbing is caused by excessive water pressure or flow speed. If your water pressure exceeds 60 psi, it's likely the pipes will give a high-pitched noise.
This is often due to: water pressure too high, wear & tear on plumbing components, water mineral build-up from the water, or other types of degradations. Squealing / whistling water supply pipe noises are typically related to water pressure and/ or flow-velocity of the water.
If you're hearing banging noises at random, even while no water is running, it's likely that there's some sediment buildup at the bottom of your water heater. If this is the case, what you're hearing is the resulting reverberations of steam bubbles coming out of that built-up sediment.
What Causes a Foghorn Sound from the Toilet? A foghorn sound coming from the toilet usually stems from problems with the ballcock valve, also known as the flapper or toilet fill valve. Some toilets have metal ballcock valves that contain washers inside. If that washer gets loose or worn, it can cause this sound.
If the humming sounds like it's coming from inside the building's walls or from all taps and appliances (rather than one isolated fixture), it's probably caused by a water pressure issue.
The rapid pressure increase, and resulting vibrations, stresses the pipework, joints and fixings. In severe cases of hydraulic shock pipes can rupture and cause water damage, or possibly flooding, inside your property. If the banging noise in your pipes has increased over time it means that vibrations have increased.
The water pressure that runs through the pipes can be so strong that when suddenly halted, it can make hammering sounds that can sound like a jackhammer. Most residential plumbing systems are fitted with air cushions, which absorb the excess air pressure, but this can get worn over time.
The Water Hammer Problem
The effect of the shockwaves can damage the pipes and knock them loose, and also damage taps, faucets, and appliances. Enough force from water hammer can even cause pipes to burst. If you hear rattling sounds along with the water hammer, it likely means you have pipes coming loose.
The most evident warning sign of water hammer is the noise. It sounds like a loud, abrupt BANG or a THUG. It can often be accompanied by rattling in the piping. Typically, it happens more than once as the supersonic pressure wave bounces back and forth in the piping system.
Most often, it is due to pressure changes or water flow issues inside the pipes. Water rushes with high momentum and speed through pipes. When a faucet or valve is shut off suddenly, the moving water hits a closed valve, which causes a loud bang.