Water Holding Capacity(WHC) : Soils are porous materials - like sponges, they drain excess water rapidly after saturation - the water remaining after after this rapid drainage phase is called the ‘water holding capacity of a soil’, and is the maximum useful amount of water the soil can hold.  Irrigators should irrigate to put this amount of water into a soil plus a small amount
Water Holding Capacity of soil $25 per soil - requires an undisturbed core sample or aggregate of soil

Wilting Point (WP) :  some soils hold onto water so hard that plants cannot extract it all.   If the WHC is the highest (useful) water content then the WP is the lowest.   While it is poorly named (many plants wilt long before the soil is this dry) the WP tells us how much water is left in a soil when plants have extracted all they can.   WP an be done on a disturbed sample of soil (about 200g)  $35 each.

Available Water Capacity (or content) of a soil requires both the above tests

Water Retention Relationship:  Soil Scientists will know that these two points are just the end points of the soil water holding relationship which depends on the pore size distribution. Soil Water Solutions can measure the whole curve, and can supply derived information such as the relative hydraulic conductivity curve and pore size distribution.
Water retention curve : Contact us for costs of a full water holding curve - generally 5 points are needed at $25 each for <70kpa, and $35 for > 70kPa.

Other soil properties can be supplied as part of  the above tests or supplementary to them for a small additional cost; Soil density($0), total porosity($0), saturated hydraulic conductivity($30), Field capacity, readily available water ($25) , penetrometer strength at field capacity (or other points) ($5), dispersion ($5), salinity ($5)

PLEASE NOTE ! The above prices above are  in AUD and include only a simple statement of the results. A minimum of $100 may be charged for small numbers (<5) of samples per test per batch..  More extensive reports with interpretation of the results will be charged at an additional fee.  Call for an estimate.