Measurement of water supply and drainage noise in multi-residential buildings

Abstract

Toilet drainage noises in multi-residential buildings were investigated through field measurements. The measurements were conducted in the upper and lower floor bathrooms with utilized the unit bathroom system. Psychoacoustics parameters, such as loudness, sharpness, fluctuation strength, roughness, and tonality and the auto correlation function (ACF) and interaural cross-correlation function (IACC) were analyzed. We found that the Leq of the upper floor was higher than that of the lower floor over the total time period with a difference of 26.5 dBA difference in a frequency range of 250-2,500 Hz with temporal variations in the level. Furthermore, the differences in all the sound quality parameters, except tonality and fluctuation strength, between the rooms upstairs and downstairs were higher than the just-noticeable difference. Moreover, the ACF and IACF values of the bathrooms downstairs reduced as the distance from the bathrooms increased. This study suggests that temporal variation in the psychoacoustic parameters may be the cause of noise-related nuisances reported by lower-floor residents. ? 2017 Institute of Noise Control Engineering. All rights reserved.