 Hello, I'm Mick and today we'll look at how you can measure water infiltration of your soils. The infiltration rate is important because we need to know whether the water will reach the deeper soil layers and the plant roots or whether it will stay on the surface and risk-causing soil erosion. To measure water infiltration, we will need a hand sledge and a wood block, an empty food tin or bottomless cake pan, a marker, plastic wrap, 500 ml bottle, water and a stopwatch or timer. Before you begin, remove the top and bottom of your tin so that you are left with a metal tube. Then randomly select one sample site at each zone that you want to study. Mark these sites physically and on the site map so that you are able to find them again. Trim the vegetation in the sampling area of one square meter and soak it slowly until it is saturated. Then drive the metal tube in the soil until it is halfway in. Then start the timer as you pour 500 ml of water as gently as possible into the tin. Stop time when the water is infiltrated or when the surface is just glistening. If the soil is uneven, count the time until half of the surface is exposed. Then record the time counts for each of the sample sites and the zones in your datasheet. Generally speaking, clay-rich and shallow soils drain more slowly than sandy, deep soils. If you have to wait for a long time, this could indicate the presence of a hard pen or a small percentage of soil-organic matter. This could explain the formation of puddles and surface runoff with heavy rainfall events.