What dreadful noise of water in mine ears - Plumbing noise: a phenomenon of urban living

摘要

The buildings we occupy, our homes and places of work or recreation, are a haphazard mixture of machine precision and of hand crafts that were built far better by ancient Greeks and Romans. We expect high quality in many aspects of buildings but we may settle for the primitive when we consider such basic requirements as plumbing systems - on the one hand, the delivery of water fit for drinking and bathing, and on the other, the disposal of waste. One of the more primitive aspects that still persists, despite plentiful information on how it can be avoided, is noise from the plumbing systems. It is difficult to understand why this situation should even exist throughout our technically advanced society when it can be easily controlled and is not tolerated in many other western countries. In the meantime, while the debate over better controls continues, it is hoped that a review of several examples typical of north American building since World War II will demonstrate that a great deal can easily be done to avoid or correct plumbing noise.