1.

OBJECTIVES

1. The purpose of this test is to determine the permeability (hydraulic conductivity) of a

sandy soil by the constant head test method.
2. To compare the hydraulic conductivity and infiltration values of the soil under
investigation.

2. INTRODUCTION

Permeability (or hydraulic conductivity) refers to the ease with which water can flow through a
soil. This property is necessary during irrigation appraisal process and general engineering
works for the calculation of seepage through earth dams or under sheet pile walls, the calculation
of the seepage rate from waste storage facilities (landfills, ponds, etc.), and the calculation of the
rate of settlement of clayey soil deposits.
There are two general types of permeability test methods that are routinely performed in the
laboratory: (1) the constant head test method, and (2) the falling head test method. The constant
head test method is used for permeable soils (k>10-4 cm/s) and the falling head test is mainly
used for less permeable soils (k<10-4 cm/s).
Falling head tests are typically set up by introducing water flow into a saturated soil through a
standpipe of water with a reduced cross-section a compared to the cross-sectional area of the soil
A. Initial and final water heads h1 and h2 in the standpipe are recorded for times t1=0 and t2 and
used to calculate the saturated hydraulic conductivity by:

k s = ( ln(1 )
2 1 ) 2

The saturated hydraulic conductivity of a soil is related to the viscosity of the fluid flowing
through the pores. Even when only pure water flow is considered, the saturated hydraulic
conductivity computed from test results is the value for the particular water temperature at which
the test was conducted. It is common to report the saturated hydraulic conductivity referenced to
a standard temperature of 20.0 C using a viscosity correction factor T/ 20. The corrected
calculated saturated hydraulic at 20.0 C, ks-20C is simply computed by multiplying the
measured saturated hydraulic conductivity at the test temperature ksT by the viscosity correction
factor T/ 20: k s-20C = ksT T/ 20
3. APPARATUS

4. PROCEDURE
5. CALCULATIONS

SAMPLE DIAMETERS

SAMPLE DIAMETERS[cm] AREAS[2 ]

A2 0.780 0.4778

B2 0.785 0.4840

C2 0.735 0.4243

BURETTE AREAS

A2 4 0.7802 = O.4778 2

B2 4 0.7852 = O.48402

C2 0.7352 = O.4243 2
4

DATA TABLE

TEST NO. INITIAL FINAL TIME Ks values MEAN

HEAD HEAD ELAPSED(min)
Ks values

A2 1.27

1.42

1.40

1.53

B2 11.90

15.13

18.17

C2 3.5
 3.18

4.68

4.72

4.52

Using the formula below fill the 5th column of the above table

ks= ln( 1 )
(2 1 ) 2

Hydraulic conductivities of each of the 3 test samples were then averaged to get the mean value
and the result entered in the table above.

6. DISCUSSION

It is of importance to note that soils with identical texture may have quite different K-values due
to differences in structure. Also hydraulic conductivity K-value in the soil profile can be highly
variable from place to place and also can be variable with a different depth. The above two
reasons explain the difference between the field infiltration rates and lab K-values albeit obtained
from the same area.

7. ERRORS

Although falling head method is fast and cheap to perform the small sample area chosen as a
representative of a large field means there is high possibility of a large random error.

Since the saturated hydraulic conductivity of a soil is related to the viscosity of the fluid flowing
through the pores it is common practice to reference the reading to a standard temperature of
20.0 C using a viscosity correction factor. In our experiment we didnt take the water
temperature reading and therefore unable to report the K value in standard form.

8. CONCLUTION

Having successfully completed the experiment the hydraulic conductivity (K-value) of the soil
samples were found to be;