How To Remove Airlocks

Water pipes that supply your taps, toilets, shower and bath can trap air creating weird and often annoying noises.

In more extreme cases, airlocks trap water preventing flow.

A professional plumber can remove the airlock for you, or you can attempt to remove it yourself.

Here’s a couple of methods for eliminating airlocks.

Drain Pipes To Remove Airlocks

Use draining when you feel there’s air in the pipes.

1. Draining your water pipes is a relatively simple task, first of all, locate your mains stopcock. The mains stopcock shuts off the water supply to your home and is usually found below the sink in the kitchen. Sometimes the mains stopcock’s found elsewhere. Whether or not you drain the system, make sure you know the location of the mains stopcock in case you need to shut off the water quickly in the event of an emergency.
2. Shut off the water supply via the mains stopcock, make sure the stopcocks fully closed
3. Fully open every tap in your home (including outdoor taps), flush all toilets until no water comes out, turn on any showers, make sure dishwashers and washing machines are not running and have finished their cycles.
4. Turn on the water supply, make sure the stopcocks fully open, undo until it can’t loosen any further. Taps will sputter as the pipes fill and water flows. Allow taps and showers to run until there’s no more sputtering and waters flowing freely through every tap/shower. Flush all toilets a few times.
5. Turn off all taps and showers; the airlock should be removed, repeat again if you feel there’s still air in the pipes.

Remove Airlocks In Taps With A Hosepipe

Use a hosepipe when a particular tap doesn’t work due to an airlock.

1. First of all, attach a hosepipe to the faulty tap, make sure it’s secure. Use a hose clip or tap adapter if necessary.
2. Next, attach the other end of the hosepipe to a nearby tap that does work again, make sure it’s secure.
3. Open the faulty tap fully
4. Open working tap fully
5. Allow to run for a few minutes; the force from the mains water pressure should be enough to remove the airlock.
6. Shut off the working tap first, then the faulty tap
7. Remove the hose and test faulty tap it should now work.
8. Repeat the process if an airlock’s still present.

If these two processes don’t help give us a call and one of our Plumbers will remove the airlock for you