How to fix a washing machine if it's not draining water?

First thing, check the drain filter - it's at the bottom behind the cover. Mine had a coin and a bunch of lint in it, after I cleaned it everything started working.

If the filter is clean, check the pump impeller - threads often get wound up on it. And the pump itself can die, it's worth peanuts, takes half an hour to change.

I had that happen too, turned out there was a clog in the hose between the tank and the pump. I had to lay the machine on its side and remove the hose

Indesit has this problem pretty often, I know from work - people complain all the time. Start with the filter, the advice above was right, but do it carefully: first put a rag or a pan under the machine because there's always water left in there. The hatch is usually on the bottom left, you unscrew the filter counterclockwise and pull out all the junk - hair, threads, lint. It'll take 10 minutes and usually fixes the problem. While you're at it, check if the filter or pump got frozen over with ice, though that's unlikely in summer.

Then check the drain hose - that's the one going from the machine to the sewer or sink. The stuff above was right about kinks, that's a common cause. The hose should lie freely, not pinched between the wall and the machine. If there's a clog, try blowing it out or pouring boiling water through it. If the filter and hose are clean, then it's most likely the pump - either it got clogged (then cleaning the impeller helps) or it broke. That's already a job for a repair person, because they'll need to take the machine apart. Pumps on Indesit aren't expensive, so don't worry about costly repairs.

Don't disassemble the electronics and control board yourself - it's too easy to burn something out. But you can and should check the mechanics, especially on a seven-year-old machine. I had exactly the same Indesit back when I was living in a dorm - at first I blamed something complicated, but then it turned out to be just a simple clog in the spot those guys already mentioned above.

Start with the simplest thing: pull out the filter and rinse it under the tap, stuff really tends to pile up in there. Then check the drain hose - lay the machine on its side or tilt it, see if there are any kinks, try to blow through the hose (but carefully, don't break it). Then move on to the pump impeller: if the filter and hose are clean, remove it through the side panel - there are usually just a few self-tapping screws. Often it's wound threads or hair that's the culprit, and that takes a minute to clean.

If water still won't drain after all that, then it's either the pump itself (it can just burn out) or the hose between the drum and the pump. That's when you'd better call a technician - taking apart the whole tank is not much fun, I tried it once and spent five hours on it. A decent pump for an Indesit costs about two hundred bucks, which is nothing money-wise, but if it's an electrical or electronics issue - that's a whole different story. Check what error the machine is showing, usually you can figure out what's actually acting up from the code.

Also check the drain hose itself for kinks and blockages, especially where it connects to the sewer pipe. Sometimes lint and detergent build up there and create a clog that the machine physically can't push water through. Disconnect the hose at both ends and blow it out or rinse it - sometimes that's all it takes.