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Spring has sprung and it's time to turn on my reticulation (bore).

My retic worked back in May but now (October) I turn it on and no water comes out.

I can hear the pump going but no water comes out. Any ideas? I only ran it for a couple of minutes because I heard you can blow up the pump if there's too much pressure. Do I have to let it run for a while to fill up the pipes?

J. Musser
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Coomie
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  • Has the system a "master" shut-off valve? If yes, did you turn it off while the system was not used during the Winter? – Mike Perry Oct 31 '11 at 15:09
  • @MikePerry Good question. The house was vacant when the estate agent showed me the the retic worked in May and has only been lived in by me since. So I wouldn't think anyone would have turned it off. If there was one, where would it be? By the bore or the controls? – Coomie Nov 01 '11 at 01:44
  • It's normally near where the water system used to feed the irrigation system enters. If that doesn't make sense, try both locations you mentioned above, if still no joy, can you contact the estate agent & ask them? – Mike Perry Nov 01 '11 at 01:52

1 Answers1

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I had the same problem sometime back; it finally turned out to be that the pump pipe has air sucked in, which creates reverse pressure and so the water could not be drawn/sucked.

If your pump is accessible you can follow the steps below to remove the air:

  1. Search for a small cylindrical metal cap on the top of your pump. This cap can be opened/closed just like a bottle cap with hands.
  2. Open the cap with hand or pliers and pour some water into it, around a glass full. Then close the cap.
  3. Turn on your pump and wait for a minute. If the problem was with air in the pipe it should start working immediately.

Try it out, and see if that works.

Niall C.
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A_garden
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