siphoning to toilet?

Question

syphoned my tank today using the python to my toilet, instead of the faucet suction method to save water. But the problem was the suction was very weak, the tubing laid on the floor directly to the bathroom then UP the toilet. Because the tubing had to go back up into the toilet, is that the reason for the weak suction? I was wondering if I could put something between my tank to my toilet so the tubing slants down directly to the toilet, that way it doesn't go UP to the toilet. Before I bought the python I used a regular gravel vac into a bucket and the suction was much more powerful, could it be weak because the tubing is so long (25ft). thanks

Answer 1

Siphoning works best when the tubing goes down and not up. The reason why it was so weak was because the water had to travel upward.

Answer 2

Well, what is really important in getting good flow in siphoning is two things -

a) the intake end of the tube be higher than the outflow end of the tube.

b) the tube should be full of water, without significant air gaps. This is important because air breaks your siphon into two (or more) columns of water - effectively you have some water segments where condition (a) isn't met.

One issue with a 25 foot tube I can see is getting it all filled with water. I can see why you might get inconsistent, halting flow. You usually snake the tube over the edge of the tank, so you already have a down-to-up segment. With the second one on the floor, now you have two. Coaxing the water through two humps (in a way that drives the air out) is tougher than through one. So, yes, that could be contributing to your problem in getting good flow going.

One way around this might be to coil excess tubling in a way that the water spirals downwards all the way, and then flows down into the toilet. Another could be to fill most of the tube with water beforehand (plug the toilet end with a gloved finger), and then let the flow happen - of course, the relative positions of the tank and the toilet in your house determine if this is even possible for one person.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

SCOOP IT OUT.