CONCLUSION

Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such
as soil (called soil moisture), rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide
range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as a ratio, which can range from 0
(completely dry) to the value of the materials' porosity at saturation. It can be given on a
volumetric or mass (gravimetric) basis.

Generally, water contents of sandy soil sample can be obtained by different methods
vary. The first method is by using Pycnometer method, second, oven-drying method and the
third method is Rapid Moisture Meter. The variance could be a result of the moisture in the
air affecting the dry soil samples. If the dry soil is not weighed immediately after being
removed from the oven, moisture from the air can quickly affect the soil.

Oven drying method is the method based on removing soil moisture by oven-drying a
soil sample until the weight remains constant. The moisture content (%), of the mass of the
pore water to the mass of the solid material (or solid) is calculated from the sample weight
before and after drying.

The oven-dry test can be a useful tool not only for verifying the readings from electronic
moisture meters, but also for understanding what is happening inside of the soil. Samples of
sand may often be dried to constant weight after 7 hours.Since dry soil may absorb moisture
from wet samples, dried samples should be removed before placing wet samples in the
oven. Drying time should be extended if the oven is full.

The drying rate of test samples will be affected by the moisture conditions and number
of samples in the dying device. When wet samples are placed in the drying device with
nearly dry samples, completions of the drying may be restarted.

In the part of Safety and Health, wearing dust masks and protective gloves when
handling materials is advised. For use of heat resistant, gloves or pot holders to remove
samples from the ovens is recommended.
REFERENCE
Roy Chudley and Roger Greeno,2013,9th edition,Building Construction Handbook,
Tylor and Francis group publisher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_content
http://www.cedd.gov.hk/eng/publications/geo_reports/doc/er221/er221links.pdf
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/soils/testmethods/mc.pdf