Next the funnels are filled with distilled water in a step-wise fashion to prevent air entrapment. The base plate is carefully closed by rotating the unit by hand. The water outside the core is allowed to drain from funnels. A graduated cylinder is placed under thefunnel. The base plate is rotated into the open position, and the core allowed to drain for 60 minutes.
Water remaining in the sample is determined gravimetrically.
Reference Fonteno, W.C. and T.E. Bilderback. Impact of hydrogel on physical properties of coarse-structured horticultural substrates. However, it is useful to have numbers as guides. The values for total porosity, air space, bulk density, percent moisture, and mass wetness are not averages but those that we expect to see from that particular substrate.