MY toilets & faucets are ALIVE & Mad! HELP

OK so here it goes... I flushed the toilet the other day and it sounded like it was going to explode! gasping, banging, sputtering, LOUD whirling noises. After that, every toilet faucet, appliance in the house is doing it! Pipes are banging & I think that it is alive! It seems to be just the cold water. It scares the out of me. We checked the basement and nothing is leaking or broken inside the house. We figure it is air in the pipes. So we replaced the air tank in the basement because it was really old and we thought had a bad bladder. Then bled the pipes. That did not work everything is still banging & sputtering.

Please help! We are on well water & have a newly replaced septic system. We have a 18 yr old furnace that makes its own hot water (no seperate water tank.) Our outside faucets are shut off due to winter here in the northeast.

Could this be an outside leak between the well & the house?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Karen

Try closing the shut-off to that toilet and see if the noises go away. Sometimes the fill valve in the toilet can create all sorts of noises in the house. By closing the shut off, you've isolated the toilet from the rest of the system. If that makes any difference, get either a Fluidmaster or Korky quietfill and replace the old filler in the toilet. If the noise continues when that shutoff is closed, somebody else will have some ideas.

Re the bladder tank...did you check the pressure prior to turning the pump back on? It should be 1-2 pounds less than the turn-on pressure of your switch.

Thanks Jim! But unfortunately that did not work. When I turned one of the faucets on after letting it run for quite awhile, it was actually spitting water forcefully out. It was actually kinda funny but I guess that what happens when your plumbing goes...you get kinda coo coo!

Not sure about the pressure reading on the new tank though. My dew-it yourself plumber is not around right now. Thanks for the imput and keep it coming!

You are on a well? Yes? If it is a shallow well you could be sucking air through the suction line.

Yes we are on a well but it is not shallow.

Could this be caused by an outside leak under the ground from the well to the house? There is no water or any signs of leaking outside on the grass.

How would we determine where a leak would be outside regarding the well? I mean could it be anything regarding the well, like the well itself? I am just so concerned at this point about the pipes breaking and the expense if it is the well.

Also the water pressure is nice and strong in the house. The faucets are just sputtering loudly & the toilets are obnoxious! They are rumbling so bad that the lid on the back of the tank could almost fall off(after a flush.)

I would call a professional but I do not have the money to do that. So I am very grateful for any help that you may have.

Karen

Just wanted to let you know that the pump in the well had a problem. When we pulled it up there was some rust and a small leak on a clamp. So we replaced the clamp and sautered a new peice of pipe in that area and the problem seems to be fixed.

We thought that it would be the check valve when we pulled up the pump, BUT there was NO check valve. Should there be a check valve? Should we put one in? Just curious.

KAren

There is often a check valve in the submersible pump.

From all the information you have given, it seems like you probably have a check valve at the top where your tank is, and no check valve or a leaking check valve at the pump.

When the pump is off, the check valve at the top keeps the water from flowing back to the pump, and the leaky connection admits air to the pipe above the pump. When the pump comes on, it pumped that air into the system.

capepuffin from relocated No. falmouth builder

Use to build in NORTH Falmouth in the 70s, Hi Neighbor

Also use to install my own wells. My gutts tell me to get out a pro well person. I'm guessing,you're drawing down past water ,or have a air leak in the well system. put your $$ in a well person, NOW .

This will be my 3rd year on the beach in Sandwich after labor day

can't wait to hug 2 daughters and 5 grand kids


To those who haven't been to the CAPE you'll fall in love TOOL

capepuffin said:

Just wanted to let you know that the pump in the well had a problem. When we pulled it up there was some rust and a small leak on a clamp. So we replaced the clamp and sautered a new peice of pipe in that area and the problem seems to be fixed.
...

KAren

Click to expand...

I had a similar problem (the sputtering toilet). I'm on city water.

What happened is that I stuffed bread into some 3/4 pipes so that I could solder the lines. I ran all my tubs for a good 15 minutes in order to clear out the bread. Nonetheless, the bread got into the toilet valve and caused the sputtering.

Three days later I'm still seeing small pieces of bread in my shower/tub combo and very occasionally my sinks sputter as bread comes through the aerator.

But every day it gets better.