Soil texture analyses using a hydrometer: modification of the Bouyoucos method

The Robinson pipette method (Pipette) is accurate and precise but time consuming. Bouyoucos (1936) proposed a more rapid and simpler procedure called the hydrometer method. Both analytical techniques are sedimentation procedures accepted as standard techniques for particle-size analysis. The sand, silt, and clay contents of several soil samples were determined using the Pipette method as a control and compared with the Bouyoucus, the Bouyoucos Modified (Bouyoucos_M) and the Bouyoucos Modified with gravimetric determination of the sand content (Bouyoucos_M-T) methods. Data obtained from these procedures was used to assess soil textural class, the soil erodibility coefficient (K), the water retained at field capacity (FC) and the permanent wilting point (PWP). In the Bouyoucos_M method, the soil organic matter (SOM) was destroyed and the dispersingagent concentration was increased. In the Bouyoucos_M-T method, the sand was quantified gravimetrically by sieving samples through a 53 mu m mesh. The hydrometer and Pipette methods measurements correlated well. The Bouyoucos and the Bouyoucus-M methods overestimated the sand content. The performance of the Bouyoucos_M-T method did not differ from that of the Pipette method. Compared with the Pipette method, the Bouyoucus method underestimated the clay content, and the Bouyoucos_M method did not differ from the Pipette method. The values obtained with the Bouyoucos_M and the Bouyoucos methods underestimated the FC and the PWP, and Bouyoucos_M-T method did not differ from estimations based on the Pipette method data. The assessed K value was underestimated with the Bouyoucos_M method. The Bouyoucos and the Bouyoucos_M-T methods estimated the K values similar to the Pipette method. The Bouyucus_M-T method is suitable for determining the soil texture and inferring soil properties but is unacceptable for assessing the class texture for soil taxonomic classification.