The short answer
The useful thing to know about an Urban Living dishwasher with this symptom is which cause to try first. Here that is A drain hose with no high loop, and the one to try last is A failed drain pump. Everything near the top of the list is an owner check that costs nothing; the bottom of it is a service call.
What you actually observe
- Water standing in the tub at the end of the cycle — The clearest version of this fault.
- A hum during the drain step with nothing moving — Blocked path or failed pump.
- It drains slowly and leaves a shallow pool — A restriction rather than a blockage.
- NEAR MISS: a little clean water always sits in the sump — That is normal on most machines and keeps the seals wet.
Causes, most likely first on this build
- A drain hose with no high loop — The hose has to rise above the tub before it falls to the waste, or the machine siphons and the waste drains back into it. A portable or countertop machine hung over a sink edge loses that loop first. Ranked first on an Urban Living: an apartment machine inherits whatever plumbing the flat already had, and that is the part nobody chose.
- A blocked filter and sump — The filter and the sump beneath it collect everything the load carries in. Second here, because a compact chassis has less mass and less suspension than a full-size machine, so what a full-size machine absorbs, this one reports.
- A kinked or crushed drain hose — The hose runs from the machine into the cabinet next to it, and it is crushed whenever the machine is pushed back into its space. Third, once the two above are clean: it takes a minute and it tells you whether the machine or the flat is the problem.
- A failed drain pump — A pump that has jammed or burned out gives a hum, or silence, with no water moving. Last, and the reason the order above matters: it is the least likely cause and the only one that puts a technician in a closet, so it goes last.
Check in this order, and why
- Check the hose rises above the tub before it falls — Without the loop the waste drains back in.
- Lift the filter out and look into the sump — Owner-serviceable and usually full.
- Open the cabinet beside the machine and follow the hose — The kink is where the machine was pushed back.
What an owner can safely check
- Check the tap adapter and the drain hose arrangement before anything else — A portable machine is coupled and uncoupled for every wash, and that joint is the one that fails.
About 10 min
- Bail out the standing water, then lift the filter out and clear the sump underneath — Expect debris. This is designed as owner maintenance and it is the commonest single cause.
Tools: a cup, a cloth, a soft brushAbout 25 min
- Lift the cover off the air gap on the worktop, if there is one, and clear it — A packed air gap blocks the drain completely and takes a minute to clear.
About 10 min
- STOP HERE if the pump hums with the filter, hose and air gap all clear — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at the isolating switch under the worktop, or unplug it, before opening any panel, and shut the supply valve under the sink. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
When to call a technician
Call when the filter and sump are clear, the air gap is clear, the hose has no kink and the knockout plug is accounted for, and the machine still holds water. A pump or a check valve means pulling the machine out of its space, and that is where the owner's part ends.
Where to go next in this class
What is deliberately not on this page
This page is written for the Urban Living dishwasher as a class, not for one family or model line. Where a family- or model-specific page exists for your machine it is linked above, and it is the more specific answer.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
