I am SO THRILLED to have found this forum and am hoping someone can help. We've have three different plumbers out and the city water department numerous times and no one can identify our problem. All are stumped.

We are on city water and in the last few months have had air in our pipes. I'm told this is an issue that only occurs with wells, there is no issue with the line to our home, and we have replaced the pressure valve. When the water is turned on, big gusts of air come out with the water, with hot or cold water. When you flush a toilet it sounds like bowling balls are in the pipes. Water pressure is wishy-washy. There is an occassional sulfur smell to the water only in the basement utility sink. Faucets are suddenly leaking intermittently when faucets are off. None of these are consistent daily, but are definitely happening more frequently. It used to be that if we turned the water on in all sinks and let it run for a bit the issue would resolve for a day or so, but that isn't the case anymore.


No one else on our court is experiencing this issue.


A few things to note, that all could be total coincidences:
-Around the same time as the issue started, construction began in our neighborhood. The city tells me that where the work has been done is several yards from the main line and that can't be the cause of the problem. Our issue always seems worse on the days they are working especially on days where they are directly outfront of our house.
-We have a water filtration system in our home. We had someone out to service it around the same time this problem started. They replaced a part and the salt tank is at least half full presently. One plumber asked us to bypass it for a day to see if the problem persisted and it did continue even when the filtration system was bypassed.
-A hydrant was opened, but closed soon after.

We had the water pressure valve replaced and that did not solve it. I'm told it could possibly be a faulty valve so I'm exploring the option of a warranty replacement on it to rule that out too. My gut tells me that is not going to be the issue.

If anyone has experienced this that can be of help I would appreciate your advice tremendously!

Thanks!

This can definitely be related to the construction. Last summer, a new large water pipe was installed, for fire sprinklers for the elementary school across the street from me. The fixtures in my bathrooms, closest to where the water enters my house, had the same problems you have(but only with cold). My water heater is at the opposite end of the house, so any air that was coming in with the water would rise up the cold fixture risers before getting to the heater. The new piping was connected to the street main a couple feet from my meter. It took about a month before my symptoms disappeared. I think the new piping wasn't bled of air for a while and the captive air would somehow bleed back into the street main and into my house. I had zero issues until the same day they installed the new pipe.

Thank you for your reply!! So your issue went away when the work ceased? The work they are doing around us involves digging up the street to put in fiber optics for cable I believe. A little further away they are doing some road work. I wonder if that would have the same effect as what you experienced.



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I think I would wait until a couple of weeks after the work is completed before you continue hunting this beast. Yes, the air should be out of the system, but it may not be much as Steve said.

Air does NOT "leak" into pipes, and I doubt that you have an air compressor to force air in. The water softener is the most likely problem since it DOES "suck" air in when it regenerates.

NOT if the water is not turned off and the pipes worked on.