#23: Down the Drain
It feels like all of us learned that toilets flush in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere. In Australia, if we want to get specific. However, it may come as a surprise to some that this “fun fact” is false. The toilet water tidbit is a myth, but the Coriolis effect is not.
![](https://petsreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/23-4-1024x1024.jpg)
According to Britannica, the Coriolis effect is when “an object that moves along a north-south path will appear to veer to the right in the Northern Hemisphere but to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.” So, water and air move a little to the right or left, depending on the hemisphere. However, the volume of water in a toilet bowl is so small that there is no effect in direction.