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IANAPlumber but the "water hammer" effect is usually very immediate and short. It literally sounds like a hammer hitting something. What you're describing mig

IANAPlumber but the "water hammer" effect is usually very immediate and short. It literally sounds like a hammer hitting something. What you're describing might be along the same principles but much larger, or it might be something else, but in any event it sounds serious. (No pun intended.) Get a second opinion before a pipe bursts or comes loose, eh? If by "the outside hydrant" you mean a fire hydrant then I would call the city too. Any chance of a video or audio clip?

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Not a hammer sound, absolutely. An humming, thrumming sound. Rises and falls and a trailing off with a duration of 5 seconds.
- carapace 6y ago
  Huh, that is weird. Pressure equalizing though some loose valve or something maybe? Can you feel vibration too or is it just sound?
  - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
    I've not been able to identify any section of pipe where I feel vibration. Yet the sound permeates the house. Live on an acreage, and the outside hydrant is mine by the garden. Right by the well, which is a tube extending 111' straight down to a submersible pump. In the utility room, the water service comes into a pressure tank. We just replaced the tank, and the sound began after that. The plumber insisted it was unrelated. Maybe a relief valve there would help...just a guess.
    - carapace 6y ago
      Weird. I'm really not a plumber, so I feel silly offering my opinion, but what the heck, it's the internet, right? If there's no vibration that you can feel then it's probably alright. Flutes don't fall apart from their own sound. But we're talking about your plumbing here, where a failure can be expensive and inconvenient, so "probably" isn't that reassuring. It's just not supposed to be doing that. > We just replaced the tank, and the sound began after that. The plumber insisted it was unrelated. It's not impossible (that they're unrelated) but that sounds to me like the obvious culprit, eh?

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Not a hammer sound, absolutely. An humming, thrumming sound. Rises and falls and a trailing off with a duration of 5 seconds.

carapace 6y ago
Huh, that is weird. Pressure equalizing though some loose valve or something maybe? Can you feel vibration too or is it just sound?
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  I've not been able to identify any section of pipe where I feel vibration. Yet the sound permeates the house. Live on an acreage, and the outside hydrant is mine by the garden. Right by the well, which is a tube extending 111' straight down to a submersible pump. In the utility room, the water service comes into a pressure tank. We just replaced the tank, and the sound began after that. The plumber insisted it was unrelated. Maybe a relief valve there would help...just a guess.
  - carapace 6y ago
    Weird. I'm really not a plumber, so I feel silly offering my opinion, but what the heck, it's the internet, right? If there's no vibration that you can feel then it's probably alright. Flutes don't fall apart from their own sound. But we're talking about your plumbing here, where a failure can be expensive and inconvenient, so "probably" isn't that reassuring. It's just not supposed to be doing that. > We just replaced the tank, and the sound began after that. The plumber insisted it was unrelated. It's not impossible (that they're unrelated) but that sounds to me like the obvious culprit, eh?