Plumbing Question

[Zulu9er]

Live in Northeast Edmonton. City water to the house. Every couple of hours, the pipes bang loud,,, water runs for about 20-30 seconds, and then another bang on the pipes as it shuts off. Am going out this afternoon for a few hours, and will shut off the water and check the tanks behind the toilets for water loss, could be the plug after flushing that does not seat properly, will know when I get home.

As a side note, behind our condo, is another set of condo's in the same complex, and a sewer backed up on one behind us. The company dug up and repaired the drain, but at the same time broke into the water line in that area of the dig. Our water was off for about 12 hours while they repaired this. the hole is now filled in and waiting for settling before they pave over the dig area.

If its not the toilets leaking, anyone know what else it could be? The War Department is now on my case, so before calling a plumber in on Monday, would any of you plumbing experts have a suggestion?

Thanks,,,

[CaberTosser]

Sound most likely to be a fill valve to one of your toilets, usually this is from a leaking flapper: as water slowly trickles out eventually it triggers the float valve to refill. Swap the flappers with yellow silicone ones (if they're a common style) and run your thumb around the edge of the surface the flapper rests against to clear any material that might be stuck to it as well as to inspect for surface flaws on it. The banging pipes could be mitigated by having a shock arrested installed in your water lines. Other sources of banging pipes could be any electric solenoid valve such as with a dishwasher, clothes washer, humidifier or ice machine.

[Zulu9er]

Thanks Caber, will check that out and get back to you. And thank you for the PM. Regards

[RBI]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Sound most likely to be a fill valve to one of your toilets, usually this is from a leaking flapper: as water slowly trickles out eventually it triggers the float valve to refill. Swap the flappers with yellow silicone ones (if they're a common style) and run your thumb around the edge of the surface the flapper rests against to clear any material that might be stuck to it as well as to inspect for surface flaws on it. The banging pipes could be mitigated by having a shock arrested installed in your water lines. Other sources of banging pipes could be any electric solenoid valve such as with a dishwasher, clothes washer, humidifier or ice machine.

ok , there's your answer , straight from Caberpidia .

Running ( leaking flappers ) being the common problem that I see most ( take care of rental suites ).

But I'll certainly second on an fridge with an ice cube maker .

I worked in a house a few years back , where I was the only one in the house during the day and keep hearing the water run , a few times during the day . After checking out the toilets , I finally realized that it was the ice cube maker .

[CaberTosser]

My wife freaked out and woke me up the night I hooked up our fridge with its icemaker, the sound of the tray being dumped startled her awake.

Some toilet float valve can contribute to an eerie harmonic 'moan' from copper water lines. The float valve will be at a point of equilibrium between shutting off firmly and being open md the hydraulic fluctuations will carry throughout the piping system. Usually this is triggered by shutting off another faucet rapidly, the moan will come from all over so is not immediately identified by the resident as being related to the toilet at all. Fix is a new float valve with more positive shut off.

[partsman]

Mine was a worn out flapper valve, easy fix.
Don't think my ice maker/water dispenser has ever caused an issue.

[CaberTosser]

Homes with pex water lines will have less in the way of noise issues than those with copper water lines due to the nature of the material, it simply won't carry vibrations. More recent code includes hammer arresters at the water supply to the dishwasher and at the laundry supply box, these devices are small chambers with a piston and two o-rings and air on the opposite side of the piston from the domestic water, they dissipate hydraulic shock pulses from quick-acting electric solenoid valves.

One way in which those noisy old copper lines are handy though is to serve as an audio reminder that your sprinkler is going on the lawn. I'd wager that fewer lawns get overwatered in homes with copper versus homes with pex water lines

[MountainTi]

Add food coloring to your tank. Will know pretty quick if it is leaking.