NOTES 59I

A]{ IMPROVED PROCEDURE FOR MEASURING WATER RETENTION

CURYES AT LOW SUCTION BY THE
HANGING-WATER-COLUMN METHOD

An improved procedure for measuring water retention curves at low suction (0-300
mbar) by the hanging-water-column method is described. The proposed method
produces curves obtained on the same sample ovcr the whole range of measurements.
Good agreement was found between data measured by the proposed technique and
those obtained by a conventional pressure plate tcchnique.

It is
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'widely accepted that the physical (Vomocil 1965) is a preferred procedure

phenornena occurring in soils in the low
suction range are critical to plant growth
(HanarL et al. 1978). In modern intensive
agriculture in greenhouses, irrigation is
often rr:sumed when soil suction increases to
200 or 300 mbar. Moreover, water fluxes in
many cases show a steep decline when
suctionL exceeds this range. In addition, the
most vridely used procedure for measuring
pore-size distribution in soils is by calcula-
tion from water retention curve
(Vomocil 1965). Therefore, a precise
converLient methodof measuring a water
For personal use only.
when applicable. The application of this
method for pore-size distribution studies on
soils has been summarized by Vomocil
( 1965) and Baver et al. (1912). The accuracy
of the commonly used procedure is slightly
limited by the fact that the amount of water
released by the soil at each suction is
determined volumetrically. This results in a
minimum measurable change of about 0.1
mL. Loss of water due to evaporation may
data also reduce accuracy. Released water can be
and determined more accurately when a
gravimetric procedure is used. Because of

retention curve for low suction is an
important tool in the investigation of
soil-water-plant relationships.
Water retention curves are usually mea-
sured by using either a pressure plate
wherein pressure is applied above the
sample, or by tension plate wherein suction
is applied by a hanging-water-column
(Baver et al. 1972\. Retention
obtained by the conventional pressure plate
method are often a collection of points each
of which has been measured on a different
sample. These samples may differ from each
other in either packing and bulk density or
wettinl;/drying history. This is a
disadvrlntage, especially over the suction
range in which soil structure plays
dominant role. Additionally, the pressure
plate nrethod presents technical difficulties
in setting and maintaining pressures in the
0- I 00 mbar range. Therefore, the use of the
hanging-water-column method wherein the
water retention curve can be measured on
one sarnple over the entire low suction range
Can. J. Sloil Sci. 60: 591-594 (August l9t0)
evaporation problems, the entire suction
plate with soil and water should be weighed.
Reginato and van Bavel (l'962) have
therefore proposed gravimetric measure-
ment (-f 0.03 g) of water outflow at various
suctions. Their procedure, based on the
pressure plate method, required disconnec-
tion of the pressure cell from the pressurizing
curves system before each weighing.
In the proposed procedure, the amount of
released water is determined by weighing,
without disconnection of the cell from the
tubing, resulting in a precision of -f 0.01 g
water. The moisture content of the soil is
serious determined only once at the end of the
experiment and the moisture content at each
a suction is obtained by back calculation. The
procedure is simple, convenient, accurate
and is also distinguished by the ease with
which the attainment of equilibrium at each
point can be determined.
The experimental system, presented in
Fig. 1, is composed of a balance weighing to
0.01-g precision, a fritted glass funnel (4.5-
to 5.5-pm pore diameter), flexible latex
 592 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE

PERSPEX LATEX TUBE

COVER ( AIR )
lr

S Elr,l l- ANALYT ICAL

SCALES

scREw-
SH ELF
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PERSPEX,/
CARRIAGE
-SCALE
TUBE CLATP MARIOTTE
BOTTLE

tT
r
rt
LATEX TUBE
For personal use only.

(WATER)

Fig. l. Schematic presentation of the experimental device

tubing and a glass Mariotte tube which is
lowered to produce a hanging water column.
Samples of soils are packed in the fritted
glass funnel and consolidated by a standard
number of tappings. Undisturbed soil cores
can also be packed in the funnel. The soil is
wetted to saturation by elevating the glass
tube so that the water level coincides with the
top of the soil. At few-hour intervals, the
sample, funnel and length of tubing to the
first clamp are weighed without disconnect-
ing the tubing system. The use of fine and
flexible tubing prevents interference in
weighing. Proper set-up of the system may
be checked by the addition of 0.01-g
weights. The sample is weighed periodically
until the weight does not change, indicating
the attainment of equilibrium. Progressively
higher suctions may be applied and the
above procedure repeated at each step.
Suction changes as small as I mbar or as
large as desired can be applied. At the end of
the experiment, the soil volume and
oven-dry weight are measured by conven-
tional means in order to calculate volumetric
water content.
Retention curves for both drying and
wetting of the samples were determined.
Typical retention curves obtained by the
proposed procedure are presented in Figs. 2
and 3. Comparison with the conventional
pressure plate method is also presented in
Fig. 2. Retention curves of three soil types,
differing in texture, were determined: a
coarse quartz sand from the Negev area,
Israel; a sandy soil (reddish-brown sandy
 593

soil) from Rehovot, Israel; and a sandy clay curve for medium-textured soils rvhich are
loam frcmNir-Galim, Israel. Drying curves poorly structured. Therefore, changes in
of the Nir-Galim soil, which were deter- water content at low suctions are small. The
mined in triplicate, exhibit a typical drying agreement between the three replicates is

SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT ("/" OF VOLUME )

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8
o
oa

o
t
I
o
x.
o
b
c
x
a
oX
L 7t) a
o ox
For personal use only.

-o
E
a Sondy cloy loom
ox (Nir - Golim,
a
.Q drying only )
z ro0
o a
ox Coorse sond
F a ( Neqev )
(J
f t?ai 6 A
Sondy soil
a ox ( Rehovot)
o
OX
a @oo Pressure plote
ox
a Dry ing
9X
ax Wetting

'o

200
Fig.2. Water retention curves of various soils. Curves for three replicates of a sandy clay loam are
presentr:d. Note individual points obtained for comparison by a conventional pressure plate apparatus '
 594 CANADIAN JOTIRNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE

SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT ("/" OF VOLUME )

ro 20 30 40 50 607

i
-o
E

25
z
o
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F Aggregote
() Diometer
f
a 2-476mn
A^
-A- t- Z ,,

05- | "
O.21-O.5 "

75
Fig. 3. Watcr retention curves of terra rossa soil aggregate fractions.
For personal use only.

very good. Points determined by the BAVER, L. D., GARDNER, W. H. and

pressure plate fit well with the hanging-
water-column data. Typical retention
curves, including a drying and wetting
cycle, were obtained on the sandy soil and
the coarse sand. In both cases the agreement
with the present plate data is good (Fig. 2).
To emphasize the applicability of the
proposed procedure for studies on soil
structure, water retention curves of
stabilized aggregate fractions of a terra rossa
soil were determined. The relationshio
between aggregate size and water retention
is clearly apparent in Fig. 3. The moisture
content of the various soil fractions mav varv
by as much as 0.5 cm3 water/cm3 soil, over
the 0-20 mbar range, but is virtually
identical at greater suctions. In both of our
experiments, the use of the improved
procedure provided a convenient, efficient,
and accurate tool for successful measure-
ment over a low and narrow ranse of
suctions.
GARDNER, W. R. 1972. Soil physics. 4th ed.
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
HANAN, J. J., HOLLEY, W. D. and
GOLDSBERRY, K. L. (eds.). 1978. Soil and
soil mixtures. Dz Greenhouse management.
Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
REGINATO, R. J. and van BAVEL, C. H. M.
1962. Pressure cell for soil cores. Soil Sci. Soc.
Amer. Proc. 26l. 1-3.
VOMOCIL, J. A. 1965. Porosity. Pages
299-214 in C. A. Black, ed. Methods of soil
analysis. Agronomy monograph. No. 9. Part l.
Amer. Soc. Agron., Madison, Wis.
PEDRO BERLINERI, PHILLIP BARAK',
ANd YONA CHEN2
rThe Volcani Center, ARO, Bet Dagan,
Israel; and 2Department of Soil and Water
Science, Faculty of Agriculture, The Heb-
rew University of Jerusalem, P.O.B. 12,
Rehovot. Israel, HUJ contribution received
2 Oct. 1979, accepted 5 Mar. 1980.