# The Coriolis Effect and Toliets

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396 "2002-04-08T00:48:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![greywolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@greywolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greywolf)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396/21 "2003-07-16T03:56:57Z")

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Here are My facs to this topic:  
Location: Amsterdam - Well on the northern hemisphere  
Lived there for seven years. Bathtub drains COUNTERCLOCKWISE.  
Every single time. I verified it a lot of times, yep, COUNTERCLOCKWISE.  
Now I moved to a new location:  
Sydney, Australia, obviously southern hemisphere.  
I live here for seven months now, and I have a very similar bathtub in my house.  
Water drains CLOCKWISE. Every single time. Just tested it again.  
Again, CLOCKWISE.

I verified it visitin Europe again, also at my parents place, its counterclockwise, and at friends Places here in Sydney, it just is clockwise.  
So? What about urban myths and debunking?GW

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**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396/22 "2003-07-16T04:13:04Z")

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Mine doesn’t go clockwise.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396/23 "2003-07-16T04:39:59Z")

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That was already dealt with, **greywolf**. That’s much too limited a sampling. There are almost many other factors, like the design of your tub, that would affect the draining. I’ve never been even near the Southern Hemisphere, and I’ve seen sinks that drain in both directions up here.

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**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coriolis-effect-and-toliets/102396/24 "2003-07-16T11:55:08Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Shade \*  
> If you put a low pressure spot on the earth, wind will flow into it. If then it turns to the right it will be going anticlockwise. I don’t know if this is the reason, but it could be.

It is, my friend. It is.

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