9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and

Pycnometer Methods

What is Water Content of Soil?

The water content of soil is is the ratio of mass of water to mass of soil which is expressed in
percentage. Oven Dry Method and Pycnometer Method are commonly used to determine the water
content of soil in laboratory.

1. Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry Method

The oven dry method is widely used laboratory method determine the water content or moisture
content of given soil sample. It gives very accurate results.

Apparatus Required for Oven Dry Method

To determine water content by oven dry method following equipment is required.

Hot Air Oven

Non-corrodible air tight containers ( 3 no’s)
Digital Weight Machine (accuracy of 0.04% of mass of sample)
Desiccator
Tongs

Minimum Soil Sample Quantity

The soil sample collected from the field should be of required quantity to find the water content. The
quantity of soil required is depends upon the maximum particle size and gradation of soil sample.
Below table shows the soil quantity required for test based on the sieve analysis.

Table 1: Minimum Quantity of Soil Required for Water Content Determination

Size of particles more than 90% of passing Minimum Quantity ( grams)

425 micron sieve 25
2 mm sieve 50
4.25 mm sieve 200
10 mm sieve 300
20 mm sieve 500
40 mm sieve 1000

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9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

Fig 1: Wet Soil Sample

Test Procedure of Oven Dry Method

The test procedure of Oven Dry method to find the moisture content of soil consists following steps.

In first step, clean and dry the containers and weigh them and note down the mass of each
container (M1). Also note down the number of each container along with its weight.
Collect the soil sample from field. Remove the top layer of soil and collect the wet soil from bottom
layers.
Fill the containers with required quantity of soil sample and weigh the each container and note
down its mass (M2).

Fig 2: Placing Containers in Oven

Place the containers in hot air oven, arrange temperature to 110o ± 5o C and allow them to dry for
24 hours.
After 24 hours turn off the oven and take out the containers using tongs.
Cool down the containers in desiccator for one hour.
After that weigh containers and note down the mass (m3) of each container.

Observations and Calculations of Oven Dry Method

The data collected during the test is noted in below data sheet. From this data the water content of
given soil sample is calculated by the below shown formula

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9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

Where M1= Mass of empty container with lid,

M2= Mass of the container with wet soil and lid,

M3= Mass of the container with dry soil and lid.

Table 2: Observations and Calculations of Oven Dry Method

Determination No.
Sl. No. Observations and Calculations
1 2 3
Observation
1 Container No.
2 Mass of empty container (M1)
3 Mass of container + soil (M2)
4 Mass of container + dry soil (M3)
Calculations
5 Mass of water Mw= M2 – M3
6 Mass of solids, Ms= M3 – M1
7 Water content= (5)/(6)x100

Result of Oven Dry Method

Water content of the given soil sample = ______%.

2. Water Content of Soil by Pycnometer Method

Pycnometer method is also useful to determine water content. But this is used when the specific
gravity of the given soil sample is already known. However, Specific gravity can also be determined
using pycnometer.

Read also: Specific Gravity of Soil by Pycnometer Method

Apparatus Required for Pycnometer Method

Apparatus used in pycnometer method are

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9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

Pycnometer
Weighing balance with an accuracy of 1.0g
Glass rod
Vacuum pump

Fig 3: Pycnometer Bottle

Test Procedure of Pycnometer Method

Test procedure of pycnometer method is as follows

Wash, clean and dry the pycnometer and note down its mass (M1) along with brass cap and
washer using weighing balance with an accuracy of 1.0 g.
Now place a sample of wet soil about 200 to 400 g in pycnometer and note down its mass (M2).
Then add water to the soil in the pycnometer to make it about half full.
Stir the soil using glass rod to remove air voids of the soil sample. If available connect the vacuum
pump to the soil specimen to remove entrapped air.
Add some more water and after eliminating the entrapped air stop stirring and fix the brass cap.
More water is added through hole in brass cap until the water is flush with the hole.
Now take the mass of pycnometer (M3).
Now empty and wash the pycnometer. Then fill it with only water and take its mass (M4).

Observations and Calculations of Pycnometer Method

The water content (w) of the soil sample using pycnometer method is calculated from the below
formula

Where M1=mass of empty Pycnometer,

M2= mass of the Pycnometer with wet soil

M3= mass of the Pycnometer and soil, filled with water,

M4 = mass of Pycnometer filled with water only.

G= Specific gravity of solids.

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9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

Table 2: Observations and Calculations of Pycnometer Method

Determination No.
Sl. No. Observations and Calculations
1 2 3
Observation
1 Mass of empty pycnometer (M1)
2 Mass of pycnometer + wet soil (M2)
3 Mass of Pycnometer soil filled with water (M3)
4 Mass of Pycnometer filled with water only (M4)
Calculations
5 M2 – M1
6 M3 – M4
7 (G – 1) / G
8 w (using above formula)

Result of Pycnometer Method

Water content of the given soil sample = _______%.

Sadanandam Anupoju
Sadananda is a Civil Engineer and is an Author, Editor and Partner of The Constructor since 2016.

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9/6/2018 Determine Water Content of Soil by Oven Dry and Pycnometer Methods

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