Abstract: | Two common methods to assess soil hydrophobicity are the ‘Water Drop Penetration Time’ and ‘Molarity of an Ethanol Droplet’ techniques. For these, uncertainty exists regarding the representativeness of laboratory tests reflecting field conditions, their replicability, and the comparability of results between the two techniques. Using air-dried soils with a broad particle size and hydrophobicity range, this study shows that a high representativeness and replicability of results can be achieved. A close relationship between the two tests was found for highly, but not for moderately hydrophobic soils. Guidelines are suggested to increase representativeness, replicability and comparability of results in future studies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |