Self-siphons
The term self-siphon is used in a number of ways. Liquids that are composed of long polymers can "self-siphon" and these liquids do not depend on atmospheric pressure. Self-siphoning polymer liquids work the same as the siphon-chain model where the lower part of the chain pulls the rest of the chain up and over the crest. This phenomenon is also called a tubeless siphon.
"Self-siphon" is also often used in sales literature by siphon manufacturers to describe portable siphons that contain a pump. With the pump, no external suction (e.g. from a person's mouth/lungs) is required to start the siphon and thus the product is described as a "self-siphon".
If the upper reservoir is such that the liquid there can rise above the height of the siphon crest, the rising liquid in the reservoir can "self-prime" the siphon and the whole apparatus be described as a "self-siphon". Once primed, such a siphon will continue to operate until the level of the upper reservoir falls below the intake of the siphon. Such self-priming siphons are useful in some rain gauges and dams.
Capillary action can be used in self-priming siphons. In these, water soaks upwards (into a cotton-filled hose) and below the crest to begin the siphon gradually, and as weight is added to the down stream, this kind of siphon will speed up, but it will never be as fast as the same diameter of open hose.
In plumbing traps, self-siphoning occurs when an unventilated pipe extends below the trap
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