Abstract: A refined theoretical analysis for using the spiral airflow and axial airflow to purge residual water in an inclined pipe was presented. The computations reveal that, in most cases, the spiral flow can purge the residual water in the inclined pipe indeed while the axial flow may induce back flow of the water, just as predicted in the experiments presented by Horii and Zhao et al. In addition, the effects of various initial conditions on water purging were studied in detail for both the spiral and axial flow cases.