How To Unblock An Airlock In Water System May 2026

A perfect, solid column of water poured out.

Leo smiled. “We don’t pull it. We push it.”

Higgins did. The water had nowhere to go because the rag was blocking the spout. It couldn’t flow out, so it did the only thing it could: it flowed backwards down the hot water pipe, pushing the airlock all the way back to the tank. how to unblock an airlock in water system

Old Man Higgins lived in a crooked cottage at the end of Puddledown Lane. One morning, he turned on his kitchen tap, and instead of a healthy rush of water, he got a pathetic sputter, a deep gurgle , and then nothing but a sad sigh of air.

“Now,” he said, “turn on the HOT tap first. Then, slowly, turn on the COLD tap.” A perfect, solid column of water poured out

The bathroom tap upstairs? Worked perfectly. The garden hose? A gushing torrent. But the kitchen tap was as dry as a bone.

“Now for the magic,” he said, and slowly turned on the cold water mains tap. We push it

“Simple physics,” Leo grinned. “Cold water pressure is usually 3 or 4 bar. Your gravity-fed hot water tank is only 0.5 bar. The cold water just bulldozes the air bubble back where it came from.”