Siphon sluices (french: épanchoir à siphon) are one of the many water management devices used on the Canal du Midi to regulate the level of the water. The siphon acts as an automatic water level regulator. The épanchoir à siphon, or siphon sluice, was designed by Bertrand Garripuy (Garipuy) Jr., the son of the chief engineer. The first épanchoir siphon was built in 1776 near

Capestang Capestang (; oc, Cabestanh) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. History In antiquity, the nearby marshes were crossed by the 1500-metre-long Roman Pont Serme.Colin O’Connor: Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press ...

and the second in 1778 at

Ventenac Ventenac is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in th ...

. Though the canal has many spillways to relieve higher water levels, they proved to be insufficient in 1766 when a severe storm in the Languedoc area caused the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...

to burst her banks near

. A section of the wall, some 46 yards, long was lost and replaced with a wall. These siphons were added in hopes of preventing this from happening again. A third siphon was built later at Fer-du-Mulet and a fourth at

Marseillette Marseillette (; oc, Marselheta) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 communes of the Aude department of France. The communes c ...

References

300px, Epanchoir de Naurouze {{DEFAULTSORT:Siphon Sluice Canal du Midi