If your sink pipes make a loud knocking noise when you turn the water on and off your home suffers from a common problem. This noise is a result of stored energy inside your pipes and it has a simple solution. It is common in many older homes and some newer ones.
Pipes Banging
The noise you hear is the sound of the pipes banging against the walls in your home. This sound is extremely loud when the pipes strike hollow drywall or the framing boards. If pipes run through a solid frame board, the outside of the pipe strikes the inside of the frame board making a loud bang or rattle. If the pipe is mounted near drywall, it smacks the backside of the drywall as it rattles and shakes.
Cause
Known as water hammer, the pipes shake to relieve the energy caused by any rapid change in the water pressure. That is why the problem only occurs when water turns on and off. Water in your home is always under lots of pressure, and as it runs through your pipes that pressure changes. Turning on the faucet forces water out of the pipes. This releases energy and shakes your pipes causing a knock or rattle. When the faucet turns off suddenly, the moving water stops and pressure backs up inside the pipes. The energy of the water backing up shakes the pipes, causing the rattling sound.
Solution
The problem of water hammer is solved by adding an air gap to the faucet. This is a small, empty length of pipe, also called an air chamber. It is a simple solution. The empty pipe allows room for a release of the energy in the water, safely without it backing up along the length of the pipe. This reduces the rattling sound. A properly installed air gap eliminates all knocking sounds in residential plumbing.
Arresters and Surge
A special device called a water hammer arrester also solves the knocking sound. This is a more complicated device with a piston inside a chamber. The piston absorbs the shockwaves created by the water pressure. The piston is calibrated to meet the pressure of the water in the home. A surge tank is another solution for long pipe runs. This tank is hooked up to the pipe lines and acts as a balance for high and low pressure changes by sending more or less water into the pipe lines as needed.
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