How Tulsa's Acoustic Testing Turned A Woman's Home Into A Musical Instrument

A woman in south Tulsa heard musical sounds in her house that got stronger when she found the source.

Jennifer Carroll works from home, and she's not crazy.

A City of Tulsa effort to proactively stop sewage overflows came with an unexpected side note: toilets resonating musical scales during testing.

"I'm just typing away and all of a sudden I'm hearing this electronic, musical tone," she said.

That led to a search around the house.

"My kids' rooms are up here, I assume it's a toy with a low battery," Carroll said.

She wasn't done searching when the music stopped.

"I'm back downstairs the next day and I hear it again," she said.

She couldn't tell if it was inside, outside, or from above.

"That did go through my head, maybe it's some sort of emergency test or the flood sirens," Carroll speculated.

But the sound was loudest inside.

"Your natural inclination is not 'Oh it's coming from the toilet'," Carroll said.

John Curry didn't think he was making music.

"I'm not a music major but I could see, it really does sound like singing," said Curry with the City of Tulsa. "I didn't know I did that."

But he and his crew do that, every day, through acoustic testing on sewer lines.

The City started using an acoustic inspection tool, called a “Rat” (rapid inspection tool) that plays sounds in sewer lines to detect clogs.

A receiver down the line can quickly assess the degree of a blockage in minutes.

It can play through the pipes at 71st and Mingo.

"This is a well-known area for grease," Curry explained.

In quiet neighborhoods, the sewer pipes can carry a tune inside.

"It was just so faint, you'd have to stop and listen, but it caught the dog's attention," Curry said.

A city worker on her street solved her mystery, but the process is bound to leave more people wondering.

The crews are working in south Tulsa now but will test every line in the city with the musical tool.