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How to eliminate the “whooshing” sound of water running though pipes.

I have a 3 story townhouse. Any time when I open a tap, even very slowly that water is just dripping, it makes a hissing (can't really explain it, its kind of like hissing, sssssss) noise that can be heard on all levels. If someone opens the tap in the basement, I can hear it in my third level master bedroom and is a problem at night when the noise can wake me up.

Any idea what might be causing this?

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coder net
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  • Hot or cold water? What type of system do you have for heating water? – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:18
  • Make sure the main shutoff valve is fully open. – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:20
  • This is both cold and hot water.. the water heater is NOT electric. – coder net Jul 14 '11 at 19:28
  • Main shutoff should be in the house near the water meter, or where the main supply line enters the building. – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:35
  • ok, i'll check the main shut off valve..but why do you think that will cause the noise if its not fully open. – coder net Jul 14 '11 at 19:35
  • What is the pressure like coming out of the faucets when fully open, would you say low, normal, or high? – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:36
  • If the main valve is not fully open it can create resistance in the flow, which can translate into sound, which can be amplified by the plumbing. Since you say it's with both hot and cold, I would focus on the main feed. – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:38
  • If you are really careful when opening the faucets, you can have a low pressure flow.. but usually if you try to open them normally, i would say its high pressure.. it just comes out very strong unless you pay attention to open slow. – coder net Jul 14 '11 at 19:42
  • I'm guessing you don't have the proper gauges to measure the pressure, or do you? – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:45
  • Also take a look at this answer. previous owners may have tried to reduce the pressure using the shutoff, when they should have used the pressure reducing valve. – Tester101 Jul 14 '11 at 19:54
  • thats very helpful. I'll take a look tonight and will report back. – coder net Jul 14 '11 at 20:23
  • It seems that I have a pressure reducing valve but it may be broken. Right above the water meter, there is a pressure gauge and it is showing 100psi. From what I read, it should be around 60 psi. Time to call a plumber? – coder net Jul 15 '11 at 11:34

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