4am Every morning - what are neighbours doing?

[KnobZombie7]

New neighbours moved in before the summer in the flat next door. The water pipes in our building are shocking and make such a lot of noise and we're occasionally woken up at 4am with the sound through the wall of them turning their taps on for 2 seconds then turning them off again. This can go on for up to ten minutes sometimes. On/off, on/off...They don't work night shifts. I usually drift off back to sleep straight away. Didn't think much of it until...

Early this morning at 3.45, I was awake and decided to stand outside their door to see if I could get some clues as to what they do at 4am. Because I was bored. And nosey. I was as silent as a mouse. Sure enough, the taps were turned on/of, on/off for a while then I heard a noise like water being sloshed around in a big bowl right behind their front door. This went on for about 2 minutes then all was quiet again.

What do you think they are doing? I assume there are bowls by their front door that they fill up with fresh water at 4. But why? AIBU to think this strange?

DP says it's a burglar deterrent but why refill the water and why refill it at the same time each day and at an antisocial time? And why not just let the tap run and fill the bowl in one go?

Any ideas? Please help otherwise my nights will be spent loitering around the communal area and trying to figure it out myself.

I'm not wasting money on bottles which I'll struggle to open anyway due to my hand problems so I'd need to waste more money on gadgets to open them and then replace them every so often due to difficulties washing them!

I've cups and tap water.

It's one or two minutes. It's not constantly running water, it's filling a cup!

Becca19962014

You really do have a problem for every solution. It's amazing.

SimonBridges

It's perfectly clear your neighbours are being taken over by alien entities while they sleep and are on shifts to build a new spaceship so they can go off and conquer the galaxy.

Nah, just tried them before!

Perhaps I should try alien entities.....

Becca can you not fill a water bottle with tap water before you go to bed and use this? Don’t refrigerate it so it’s not too cold and don’t screw the lid on too tight.

All I'm saying is that I'm so glad someone reminded us of 'Penis beaker'

Could it be washing machine on a delay setting? I set mine for this time so it's ready to peg out at 7am.

Becca could you not put water in a travel mug....then you wouldn't have to unscrew the lid to drink....or get out of bed.

We had our taps turning on at all hours of the night and our shower coming on.
It lasted a year and a half as well as things being thrown, footsteps chasing us down the hall at night when we went to the toilet, lights going on and off.
We had people out to exorcise the house,
That's all stopped now.
Ask them .. they might be terrified!

I used to pump milk (at 1am and 4am?) I guess it isn't that?

Why can't Becca get up at 4am and run her taps for a minute in her own house if she wants to?

Its her neighbours who are bonkers!!

Buy ear plugs, stop being so nosey or move.

I’m curious as to why you might need to plan to wake from sleep to take tablets each night? Not aware of any meds that require this.

I can see that if you are in pain stopping you from sleeping, and require painkillers, that may be why - but would suggest that if so, your pain is not being managed adequately, and needs a review.

SimonBridges

I think your neighbours are ‘spotters’ of some sort. Mostly likely wildlife but maybe stars/planets, trains, planes. You really do need to ask though seeing the OP mystery is solved. It’s your duty to mumsnet 😬

Sorry but it's a ghost. Unexplained noises are always ghosts

”Why can't Becca get up at 4am and run her taps for a minute in her own house if she wants to?”

She said it herself- because the internal pipes vibrate the walls and “wake everyone up”

I don’t think in those circumstances it’s unreasin of her neighbours to ask her to come up with an alternative 4am beverage solution that doesn’t involve doing that, such as the many suggested here.

This thread though 😂

Becca, if the pipes are vibrating when you turn them on / off and are accessible ie under the sink, could you put some of the foam split tube pipe lagging around them? It’s fairly cheap and may solve your problem. Or you might have air pressure problem in the water system and need to drain the system by turning off at the main water valve, run all the taps and flush the toilet to empty the system, then turn the main valve back on slowly to refill your system. I’ve had a similar problem and this works.

is there any chance that because they are new that the water pipe sound is new for them? eg they may be filling up a pet bowl/whatever with water and noticed the noise but thought it would reduce the noise if they didn't run the tap continuously? :)

Reptile keepers/breeders? Ex never told his neighbors after the ones before tried to get him kicked out because they didn't like snakes. All the on/off could be rinsing out and refilling water bowls?

@SimonBridges you must live next door to my ex and his new family. Despite being too tired to ever work he would regularly try to drag me (who did) out of bed at around 3am for a McDonalds breakfast

Maybe they have an aquarium near the area you are hearing the running water and maybe it's on a timer where it filters/pumps water or something, and that might be what you are hearing?

The mystery was solved at 22/08/2018 20:50!

It hasnt been solved. OP has had a good guess from someone though

Simon Bridges I second the fish market,
Or they go to the mosque to pray?