Plumbing help please

[musiclawyer]

There is strange hum/jackhammer type noise coming from under my house. It is almost like a jackhammer noise just quiter constant and at a lower frequency and faster soundwaves. It stops only when I run the water. Either inside or outside That includes flushing the toilet. Water is used so the noise stops temporarily

Only other thing I should mention is that my house is below grade and the house has a pump to send waste water up to street level

I am flummoxed I have called a plumber but have to wait several days. Any ideas ?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Water hammer is usually a sign of poorly installed piping but that only happens when you shut it off

What you have sounds like the pump is acting up to me. Have you looked at the pump?

[randr]

2. Your system has a pressure air tank with a bladder inside

The bladder may have failed or the air chamber is empty. This situation usually causes the pump to come on over and over. Some newer pressure tanks have a nozzle to fill the air chamber to a desired pressure.
You also may have an air bleeding valve somewhere on the line. This is the likely culprit. It allows accumulated air in the system to bleed out without losing water. It is a small round metal thing with a cap that looks like a bike tire cap. Sometimes this cap is too tight and if loosened air will start to escape. If needed try to take the cap off and press the relief valve as if you were taking air out of a tire. If air does escape when you do this the valve itself should be replaced.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

3. looks like you got some pretty good advice here.

what if you went under the house and somebody else turned on the water? Would you than be able to tell if it is the pump or the water line ? Water jackets cure hammering pipes- but it seems it might be in the pumping system as was said.

Can you get under there and look around ? Is there a crawl space under the house ?

Find the problem ,than find out how to fix that problem .

[musiclawyer]

4. It looks like it was the filler valve in one of the toilets

Problem is that after the plumber replaced it, it now "whistles" instead of jackhammers I needed to tape a small but heavy object on the "arm" that lifts up the toilet plunger to keep the whistle sound from happening. Traded one problem for the other.

[musiclawyer]

5. Final follow up

Plumber says all problem were due to pressure valve, which he replaced. He says the pressure was the same as on the street (very high) and that its bad for the pipes and fixtures and cause noice and later whistling from the toilet when water was turned on elsewhere. Hopefull my experience helps someone else in the future.