It's taken me a while to conduct the experiments and make observations in order to be able to respond to Anne and Sophie's question on whether here, south of the equator, the water drains from our toilet and sinks in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction.
First of all, our kitchen sink is a bit slow in draining - so no whirlpool observed at all.
The bathroom sink drained with a counterclockwise whirl the first time and then a clockwise whirl the second time. The toilet just has a huge gush - no whirlpool.
Since observations at home did not give acceptable results, I had to continue my research at school. I have tried all three toilets in the girls bathroom beside my office and they all drain with a clockwise whirlpool.
This is NOT what we would expect given the Coriolis effect. So I had to turn to google to explain why not. While, in general the Coriolis effect does determine the rotational direction of hurricanes, north and south of the equator, the direction the water enters the toilet and the shape of the drains, among other things, plays a greater role in the directionality of the whirlpool. Whew! I am glad we got that sorted out.... :)
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