How Does a Siphon Work? | Ask This Old House
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- In this video, plumbing and heating expert, Richard Tretheway demonstrates how siphons work.
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What is a Siphon?
A siphon is a tube that allows liquid to travel upward, above the surface of the origin reservoir, then downwards to a lower level without using a pump.
When a certain amount of water moves over the bend in the siphon, gravity pulls it down on the longer leg lowers the atmospheric pressure in the bend of the siphon. So, the atmospheric pressure on the other side of the siphon becomes stronger and forces the rest of the water up and over the bend in the siphon.
How Does a Siphon Work in a Toilet?
Without electricity or any mechanicals, a toilet is able to flush away any wastewater into a sewer or septic system-proving to be quite a marvel for modern society. Richard shows how siphons are the basic principle that makes toilets work, even if the water supply in the house was turned off.
How to Operate a Toilet
Push the lever to pull the stopper in the tank
With the stopper open, all the water in the tank rushes into the bowl
The rush of water activates a siphon, caused by the shape of the drain here, which pulls the waste out of the toilet
When the tank is empty, the stopper falls back over the hole, allowing the water supply to refill the tank
Where to Find it?
Richard demonstrated the principle of a siphon jet on a Glacier Bay toilet, though every toilet from every manufacturer operates using a similar siphon jet.
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How Does a Siphon Work? | Ask This Old House
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There's a bit more to siphoning; its not just the 'weight' of the water 'pulling' on the water in the upper bucket due to gravity; rather, the weight of the water in the tube does indeed cause the water to start to flow thru the tube, but here is the key - the evacuation of the tube would tend to create a vacuum behind it; rather than allow a vacuum to exist, the the laws of physics continually act to refill the tube via atmospheric pressure on the surface of the water in the upper bucket, to press upon and replace the water which is draining out of the tube (nature abhors a vacuum). If you sealed the upper bucket in an airtight fashion, the siphon would stop working because the force of gravity on the water in the tube is not able to produce a vacuum inside that upper (sealed) container. But in an unsealed container where air pressure can work with the weight of the water column, a siphon can work - up to about 10 meters in height depending on barometric pressure. Hope this helps - siphoning is gravity in partnership with atmospheric pressure (which is caused by gravity too) - gravity does all the work here, but it operates on the water itself AND CRITICALLY the column of air above it. All you have to do is make sure that there is no air-lock (air is compressible, water is not) inside the tube, to get things started. PS - if you don't believe science, believe a bartender who can turn a glass of water upside down and it won't run out because atmospheric pressure is holding it in against the force of gravity. Check it out and Cheers.
Huh?? Please post a video where a person turns a glass of water upside down and it doesn’t run out. Preferably a video that’s not from a Sci-Fi movie.
FINALLY! Thank You! I went through 5 other videos before I found yours that explained the siphon effect. Now I finally understand the force that empties a toilet bowl.
Every single person needs to understand this to appreciate it. Great cutout as always! Seriously I'm going to force people to watch this now. Thank you!
Another excellent video! They are such great teachers on this channel.
Most underrated video on youtube
I would love it if This Old House would make an entire episode in detail where they would talk about the workings of how American toilets and plumbing and how UK toilets and plumbing work and the dos and don'ts etc? As well it would be nice to know the differences about the things such as electrical and other things such?
Siphon effect is one of the greatest inventions of mankind : Says the Plumber... 😂
Thank you so much for this explanation!
Thank you this is a great video to show the parts of a toilet bowl and how they work.
Best video explanation so far. Thank you!
They physics and math on this are really cool and simple too.
sounded like Tim Heidecker when he said "isn't that somethin" 0:59
Good explanation, thanks a lot
does it the water starts at a uphill direction then to a downhill direction to make siphon work correctly.
Question?
Does this go I line with the hot water heater I'm confused about where to install is it installed on the same cold water line before the water heater?
Please help
Love this stuff
Why Water seal too high above bowl in syphonic type Water closet and upto what level on higher side water seal is acceptable
thaaaannks
I have a toilet that does not allow water to come out of the ports at the rear of the toilet. Therefore there are times, when a certain bathroom visit occurs, the mess stays there. I have tried a thin wire up the ports but to no avail. What can I do?
How does the smaller hole near the top of the exit channel work? Try plugging it to see what it does or doesn't do, please. Is it a vacuum that helps pull or suck?
I know this question was 4 months ago, but if you are referring to the small hole in the front of the bottom inside of the toilet, opposite the major drain-way, that hole is called the siphon jet. When working properly, water should come down from the tank & OUT of the siphon jet hole during a flush, aiming that jet of water in sort of squirt toward the larger drain-way to help start all of the water heading up that way to assist the start of the siphon. If the siphon jet hole gets blocked up with sediment or a toothpaste cap that someone dropped, your toilet will develop a "lazy flush", which is when the water swirls more gently rather than a vigorous swirl, & the toilet flush will be weak so that paper & solids tend to stay in the bowl. If that is happening, you can stick a gloved finger in the siphon jet hole to see if it is blocked. If so, a long screw or a piece of small diameter plastic pipe, or even a wire coat hanger can be used to poke the sediment to try to break it up & get it out. You can use whatever works but be careful not to scratch the porcelain in the bowl. And be careful in case the blockage is from a foreign object, not to jam that object more firmly into the hole.
This is a common problem that can easily lead to a lazy flush, especially in homes that have hard water. So if you have hard water, you might want to check that siphon jet hole every few months to prevent problems before sediment gets too built up & too hard.
[mcsmama 5.30.2022]
what if the bucket is on the ground and you want to fill something up above it
is the jet actually a nozzel or just an opening to create the,siphon effect
I think it's just another port to push the water up and over to start the siphoning process. There's no pump pushing the water but if that is clogged with hard water buildup that could prevent a good solid hard flush.
How do you clean the jets and siphon tube.
Pour basic 5% vinegar down the overflow tube and let it sit in the rim area. It will descale any mineral build up that blocks the jets.
Seems like if you use a plunger, this would likely force bacteria up into the tank where it could enter the inlet valve?
It's siphon technique , those are saying it's fake they don't even understand basic science.
whitch on is the video with the water boil that stopes the smell from coming up i wanna send it to my mom
Little too late, but it’s the part right after it comes from the main bowl. Where it’s a solid tube of water prior to flush. Keeps gases on the other side. Same for sinks.(the under side of the left side of blue tape)
ruclips.net/video/LmsIYwf8QqQ/видео.html That last toilet they dumped the bucket into looks like it has a connection between the trap (short leg) and the long leg. What's that about?
“Thank you Mrs. Science”
what is your business name website please
Nice magic trick.
That is without doubt, the most ridiculous toilet design ever, ESPECIALLY in light of better designs having been around for a very long time.
Also, because of its complexity, that toilet pan is very expensive to manufacture.
The huge downside is, it wastes a vast amount of water.
The siphon pan is not suited to dual flush, unless each flush amounts to almost the same on the second flush as the original amount, about 3.5 US gallons or 13.3 litres.
Since 1992 the flush has been reduced to 1.6 gallons, 6.06 litres, along with a better designed pan as the old designs would fail with so little water.
In Australia, the dual flush toilet system was invented in 1980 by Bruce Thompson, when he was working with Caroma. The first dual flush system released 11 litres on full flush and 5.5 litres on half flush, or 2.9 US gallons and 1.45 US gallons.
When a trial in a small town yielded a net saving of 32,000 litres of water per year per household, legislation was soon passed in every state except NSW to have dual flush toilets installed in all new buildings.
Caroma then redesigned their toilet to use even less water, dropping down to 6 and 3 litres respectively - close to half of what it used before. That's 1.69 US gallons and 0.79 gallons!
It was customary in many Australian households, to place a house brick in the cistern to reduce the amount of water used, especially in country area and where houses were connected to a septic system. It is important with septic systems to have as little water as possible flowing into them, otherwise they are easily subject to flooding.
Using a septic system required the use of a specially designed 'septic pan', that used less water.
For many years now, it has been very difficult to find a suburban house connected to a septic system. When they are, the septic system is a pump out one, not a site disposal system.
I was a licenced plumber, drainer, gasfitter, LPG installer and roof plumber and ran my own plumbing business for 40 years.
Wow 1st grade physics. Amazing.
Pees & Poops 💩