In apartment buildings, water pipes sometimes begin to buzz. Their noise may indicate serious problems that you will have to deal with on your own. However, first of all, it is necessary to establish why the water pipes are buzzing. To do this, take into account the characteristics of the noise, such as its strength and duration.

Types of noise in pipes

Noise in the requirements can be of the following types:

• Permanent . The hum and whistle can be heard in the pipes around the clock. Such noise can occur in old houses or high-rises, in which there is a low pressure and there is a pressure difference between cold and hot water. The situation is aggravated by a faulty mixer in any of the riser apartments.
• Temporary . At first, a perceptible knock is heard, and then there is vibration and “groaning” of the pipes. Such a hum suddenly appears and also disappears. But the faulty gasket can be to blame, as well as the overgrowing of the insides of the pipes with various deposits. In addition, a knock is heard with a large water pressure.
• Intermittent tapping . They resemble the knocking of angry neighbors on the battery, but in fact the problem lies in the pipes themselves.

By listening to the noise, you can first understand what you should pay attention to and check your guess first. Next, it will be considered why the pipe is buzzing, and what is best to do.

High system pressure

If, when the tap is opened, a strong buzzing of the pipes begins, then this is the first indicator of a strong water pressure. It is necessary for the normal rise of liquid to the upper floors, but excessive excess of the permissible limit can cause the pipe and water connections to depressurize. In the worst case, strong pressure can cause a pipe to burst.

To reduce pressure and relieve the load on the pipes, that is, to protect the system from water hammer, the following equipment must be installed on the pipes:

• Hydraulic accumulator . A hollow tank into which excess water is discharged during a water hammer.
• shock absorber . An elastic tube made of plastic or rubber is inserted at a certain section of the pipe. At high pressure, it stretches and dampens the water hammer.
• air chamber . She will be able to take on excess pressure if necessary. You can make it yourself or use the factory blank. After installing such an air silencer, the pipes will be able to last longer, and annoying hum will not be heard so often during pressure surges.

The listed equipment will not work if the water supplier knowingly supplies liquid with a large admixture of air into the system. In this case, you should immediately solve the problem, otherwise the noise in the water pipes will be constant. A high pressure in the system is considered to be a pressure of 6 atm. An indicator exceeding it can lead to water hammer.

The most acceptable for the normal operation of the mixer and household appliances (dishwasher and washing machine) is a pressure of 2 atm.

Leak in the system

It can occur in a single apartment, as well as in pipes laid in basements. If, when you open the tap, a whistle and a hum immediately appear, then you should deal with the mixer.

This problem often occurs with models with rubber gaskets located under the herringbone. It serves as a seal between the tee and the mixer, it is placed on both cold and hot water. If its integrity is broken, then water from one pipe will flow into another and at the same time be accompanied by a specific hum. When replacing an outdated faucet model, the noise problem will be eliminated.

Overgrowth of pipes

Even if a new water pipe is installed, due to various lime deposits and scale, its inner diameter will significantly decrease, and the water flow will cause not only strong noise, but also vibration of the pipe. You can check the overgrowing of pipes by removing the mixer and looking at its contents. If a lot of dirt has accumulated on the insides, then you should first try to clean the ends of the water supply, and if this does not help, then you will have to replace them with new pipes.

This “suffers” not only steel pipes, but also plastic ones, especially their ends. Even their advanced polypropylene counterparts, when connected to a mixer, have the ability to accumulate deposits due to the difference in diameters, so they need to be cleaned over time.

Poor pipe repairs

If the rumble in the pipes is repeated several times a day and it is difficult to establish the cause, then you need to ask if the sections of the plumbing system in the basement of the house have changed. It is possible that the locksmiths performing the replacement loosely screwed the connections. They need to be called again, and they will easily eliminate the cause of the buzz by checking all new connections and tightening them carefully.

Proximity of pipes

This cause of noise in the plumbing system occurs in old houses, when, when replacing pipes, due to lack of space, they cannot be positioned differently, and fasteners are carried out end-to-end with a small gap, which cannot be done. Water, passing through them, causes vibration, which leads to a collision of pipes. As a result, loud noise is heard. To avoid this, you need to wrap each adjacent pipe with soft building material.

Valve break

For this reason, tapping is heard in pipes with water, which do not last long, but occur often. Screw valves are installed in the direction of water movement, and if, as a result of ignorance or in a hurry, they are placed in the opposite direction from the movement indicated by the arrow, the valve may unwind and break. Faucet failure will result in short, repetitive strokes.

thermal expansion

It takes place in a hot water system. All residents cannot use it all the time, and in some cities it is given by the hour or turned off at night, all these circumstances lead to cooling pipes. And when hot water is again supplied to the system, the pipes heat up. During this period, the pipeline expands, which begins to come into close contact with pipes or fasteners passing nearby, which leads to short-term tapping.

To effectively solve the problem, you need to find the point at which the pipe contacts another object, and navigate in place, how best to isolate it. If the pipeline is made of metal pipes, then brackets can be welded to them and fixed with an anchor, creating a small gap between the problematic area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe pipeline and the object in contact. Most often this is enough to eliminate the noise.

What can buzz in the pipes? (video)

Why the pipe is buzzing, you can find out from the following video. At the same time, you should initially listen carefully to it, because this will help narrow down the range of problems that can cause noise.

Focusing on the above reasons for the appearance of noise in the pipes, you can immediately eliminate them, and without the help of plumbers. If you do not pay due attention to this issue, in the future you will have to face more serious consequences.