We describe improvements in the theory and practical application of the constant head well permeameter method for field measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity above the water table. The theoretical improvements result in a new analytical solution and a numerical solution that produce increases in the calculated value of the hydraulic conductivity of approximately 48 and 60 percent, respectively, over the commonly used Glover solution given in most standard drainage manuals. Using the numerical solution, the constant head well permeameter method produced estimates of the saturated conductivity of a structureless sandy soil that were statistically equivalent to the estimates produced by the air entry permeameter method. This improvement thus eliminates, at least within the limits of the tests, the previous tendency of the constant head well permeameter method to underestimate the hydraulic conductivity. The improvements in practical application, which result from refinements in apparatus design, increase the efficiency and range of operation of the method.
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Reynolds et al. (1983) studied this question.