Expert: Sharon McCarthy - 7/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: I recently added a room on upstairs in my house. Since then, I have acquired a vibration at my water regulator. It does it every time I turn on a faucet and sometimes when no water is running at all. It's more like a buzzing noise. I do have an irrigation system, as well.I have attempted to adjust the regulator both up and down. It is very annoying.

ANSWER: Dear Tom,

  I don't mean to be dense, but when you say "water regulator" do you mean a pressure regulator? This would be a device that is in-line on your main waterline coming into the house. You turn a slotted screw to adjust the pressure up or down.

  A pressure regulator has a screen inside to filter out debris coming through the line. If the person who did the plumbing for your addition cut into the waterline before the pressure regulator to tee in a new line [and if he did, he should have teed in AFTER the pressure regulator], the pipe may have gotten some gravel in it. When the water was turned on, the gravel may have then caught on the screen. This is just a possibility based on what you wrote.

  In my 26 years of plumbing, when a knocking, vibrating, banging or whistling sound occurs, the cause is almost always a blocked pipe or a valve that is not open all the way.

  You can take those pressure regulators apart and clean them or replace parts, but it's very tricky. That bell housing, the part sticking out with the adjustment screw coming out, will unscrew.
But right behind this is a spring assembly. The spring will pop out and with it other parts of the assembly. Then there is an inner cover that has to be removed to get to the screen.

  If you do attempt to take it apart, I suggest you get the exact brand and model number off the unit and look it up online. See if you can find an Adobe schematic drawing of the entire unit.

  This is one guess as far as what is causing this vibration. If you have an irrigation system, you probably have a PVB [Pressure Vaccum Breaker] valve on it very close by. These can often get blocked up and can cause a vibrating and often leaking. Again, the reason is that it is not allowing the full amount of water through and this is exactly what will happen.

  Also, if your shut-off valve is before the pressure regulator, make very sure it is fully open. You should check this first before you do anything else. If the valve is partly closed, this may be the cause. Hope this helped! Sharon  PS. Ideal water pressure is 60psi.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sharon,
Thank you so much for your guidance. I located the model on line as well as printed out the schematic and diagram.It is no doubt exactly what you said it was, however I was not able to break it loose. I was afraid to put too much force on it because the connections are made of conduit. My luck isn't really that good.
There is one more thing. I live in Davie County North Carolina and the County furnishes the water. It is terrible. My wife and I have to clean out the strainers in the faucets at least once every couple of weeks. They are filled with black silt. The other thing is that I have installed a whole house filter in order to help the situation, but it only helps a little. When I replace the filters, the water and the filter are full of dirt. I suspected that this was due to a leak in the irrigation line, however to this day. I haven't seen a wet spot in the yard, which I should see. Is that correct? I had the county out once and they checked the water and the pressure and said it was safe to drink and the pressure was set right. I don't know where to go from here. Should I check with the guy that installed the sprinklers or should I just get a plumber?
Once again, the service that you provide is second to none and I can't thank you enough.

With Kindest Regards,
Tom
Tom

Answer
Dear Tom,

  First, a leak in a pipe can never bring dirt INTO the pipe. Only if the water is off and the pipe is cut for repair and dirt gets in during the repair.

   When water is running through any pipe, the pressure of the water is pushing out at the inside walls of the pipe. There is no way dirt could get IN when the water pressure is pushing OUT.

  Also, just say there was a sizable crack in your irrigation line. [Granted this is unlikely from what you said, you see no signs of wetness, and a cracked pipe would spew water like a fountain.]

 The irrigation lines go to plantings, not into the house. If dirt DID manage to get into a cracked irrigation pipe when the system is off, as soon as the water came on again the "forward" pressure would push the dirt out to the bubblers, not back into the house. So I think you're exactly correct, that this dirt coming through your main waterline is causing problems in the pressure regulator.

  In my area, probably half the homeowners are on wells, and the water coming out of many of the wells is muddy and silty. Many of these homeowners have large filters on their lines just past the pressure tank, long before the water gets into the house.

  There are much larger and more effective whole-house filters than the plastic ones you see at Home Depot. I don't have any information for you, but I'm sure you can find good ones online. You might consider having some work done on this incoming line, and you can have it all done at once if you get all the parts together first.

  Have a good whole-house filter put in, and consider having the pressure regulator replaced at the same time. Trust me, it's easier and cheaper that having someone take it apart and repair it. You can buy a new 3/4" thread pressure regulator at Home Depot for about $40.

  Look for a really good whole-house filter, and one that you can replace the cartridges easily yourself. You should have the filter installed inline BEFORE the irrigation pipes tee off and BEFORE the pressure regulator.

  It's a lot easier for a plumber to do all this at one time since he would have to cut into the PVC and/or copper pipes anyway. It may be a three or four hour job, but it would solve a lot of your problems if you plan to stay in this house.  

  Usually a water provider [in your case the County] will only maintain the lines UP TO the meter. Their responsibility ends there. Whatever happens from the meter to your house is your problem. I think you will rest a lot better, plus find other things to do besides clean out the aerators every few weeks! Good luck with this!  sharon