We had a sprinkler system professionally installed about 6 weeks ago by a reputable local company. As each zone starts the system makes a whirring noise as the zone fills that can be heard very loudly in the house. This then settles to a rhythmic chugging as sprinklers do their watering. The noise is loud enough that we cannot run the sprinklers at night as they wake us up so we have to run them in the late evening so they finish before we go to bed.
Here is a good description of the noise from another poster.
Continuous banging noise in house plumbing when sprinkler is running
To me it is very similar to someone starting a lawnmower outside.
The sprinkler folks have thus far been really nice, and they came round and installed a check valve on the house main line to ensure that water was not being sucked from the house when the zones started and making the noise. This made no difference to the noise. They did charge us $200+ for this though.
A few weeks later we were woken in the night to the loud noise the sprinklers make on start up, and it did not stop. I looked out of the window and water was gushing down the street. Eventually I managed to get the water to stop by shutting of the valves on the backflow prevention device. This turned out to be a failed joint between the back flow prevention device and the first master shutoff solenoid. The sprinkler company came out and fixed it the next day and also replaced the check valve with a different type to try and stop the noise. This made no difference and they told me I just had noisy pipes and nothing could be done about it.
Today the sprinkler system is leaking again, this time from a different spot and it is bubbling up through the lawn. I can here the chugging in the house, but not too loudly so the amount of water fortunately seems to be less than last time. This time I cannot turn off the water and I am currently waiting on the city to come and turn it off for me at the meter.
I am yet to get a response from the sprinkler company.
I fear to see our water bill this month.
My questions are this:
1. is something fundamentally wrong with the system? Sound is made by vibration so to me there is obviously something moving that shouldn't be.
2. Is there any chance that the next time one of these pipes break it will be in the house?
3. Since this is the second leak in a month, would you trust the repairs made by the sprinkler company. Should I get another plumber out for a second opinion?
A final important piece of information is that we have very high water pressure. ~120 psi I believe.
Thanks in advance for your comments.