I love this!  I use bottled water since the water around here is absolutely nasty!  The noise is about what would be expected with any ice maker, whether it is inside the fridge or on the counter.  Since I go through a lot of ice at times, the noise if it dumping reminds me to make sure the basket inside does not fill up and the unit stops.  I take certain amounts out and drain the excess water and put the container in the big freezer.  Once they have a good freeze, then I will dump them into my ice bin in the fridge.