SOIL pH AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY

BSc Environmental Sciences

ENVS 301: Lab 4
Aims
 To determine soil pH using a meter
 To measure electrical conductivity using an EC meter
Introduction
According to (Thomas, 1996) soil pH or soil reaction is an indication of the acidity or alkalinity
of soil and is measured in pH units. Soil pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen
ion concentration. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 with pH 7 as the neutral point. As the amount
of hydrogen ions in the soil increases the soil pH decreases thus becoming more acidic. From pH
7 to 0 the soil is increasingly more acidic and from pH 7 to 14 the soil is increasingly more
alkaline or basic (McCauley, 2009).
The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution is a measure of the ability of the solution to
conduct electricity. The EC is reported in either milliohms per centimeter or the equivalent
decisiemens per meter. When ions (salts) are present, the EC of the solution increases. If no salts
are present, then the EC is low indicating that the solution does not conduct electricity well. The
EC indicates the presence or absence of salts, but does not indicate which salts might be present.
For example, the EC of a soil sample might be considered relatively high. No indication from the
EC test is available to determine if this condition was from irrigation with salty water or if the
field had been recently fertilized and the elevated EC is from the soluble fertilizer salts. To
determine the source of the salts in a sample, further chemical tests must be performed.
The presence of any hydrogen ions present in a substance will impact the pH level and most
probably influence conductivity levels. However, hydrogen ions make up only a small part of the
ion concentration measured by a conductivity meter. The relevance of the relationship will
depend on the presence of hydrogen in comparison to other concentrations of non-pH
determining ions (Rhoades, 1989).
Soil pH measurement has been used as a predicator of various chemical activities within the soil,
useful tool in making management decisions on the type of plants suitable location and a rough
indicator of plant availability of nutrients in the soil. On the other hand the EC is used in the
measurement of properties that correlates with it such as soil texture, cation exchange capacity,
drainage conditions, organic matter level, and salinity and subsoil characteristics. EC is used to
provide indirect composite measure of variables that influence soil quality and is also used to
map out the spatial variability of soil within a production field. (McCauley, 2009) also suggests
that, EC has been described as one of the simplest, least expensive soil measurement available to
precision regarding land use, whereas a detailed information about the spatial characteristics of
other operations can be collected in addition to field attribute maps.

Part A: Equipment
 Soil samples
 pH meter buffer solutions
  Deionized water bottle
 Mud bucket
 Balance
 50 mL beakers
 Small graduated cylinder
 Paper towel
Part B: Equipment
 Soil samples
 EC calibration solution
 Deionized water bottle
 Mud bucket
 Top load Balance
 50 mL beakers
 Small graduated cylinder
 Paper towel
 Stirring rod
 EC meters (low and high)
Part A: Procedure
Before testing the soil pH the pH meter was calibrated using three pH buffer solutions (pH 4, 7,
and 10), 1 inch of each buffer solutions was poured into 50 mL beakers andthen pH meter was
turned on. The sensor was dipped into the calibration solution starting with pH 7 buffer solution,
stirred gently and waited for the reading to stabilize. It was calibrated correctly by pressing “cal”
button, then “hold/ent” this step was repeated with pH 4 buffer solution and pH 10 buffer
solution. The pH meter electrodes was rinsed with water before it was used in each buffer
solution and upon the calibration procedures was completed. 20 g of dried and ground soil
sample was added to 50 mL beaker and also 40 mL was added to create a soil solution, stirring
rod use to mix the sample for 5 minutes. Calibrated pH was submersed into the soil solution and
was gently stirred with pH meter for 1 minute and it was allowed to stabilize and the pH was
recorded after that the pH meter was rinsed and cleaned with water and stored.
Part B: Procedure
20 grams of soil sample was added to 50 mL beaker, R-O water was added to soil sample until
gooey paste was formed. The mixture was stirred for 10 minutes using stirring rod. The meters
was calibrated using as s single EC buffer solution. This was calibrated by pouring 1 inch of
buffer solution into a 50 mL beaker, the mater was turned on, and the sensor dipped into the
calibration solution waited for the value to stabilize. The “cal” and “hold/ent” button was
pressed until the value matches the value of calibration standard. The “hold/ent” button released
to accept the calibration values after these the EC meter electrodes was rinsed with water. After
24 hours the sample was mixed, the calibrated EC meter was submersed into the solution and
gently stirred with EC meter for 1 minute. After the reading stabilized the soil electrical
conductivity was recorded. The EC meter was rinsed and cleaned in R-O water and stored.
Results
Determination(A1) pH Temperature EC
Soil-H2O 7.2 25.5 0360
Soil-KCL 6.2 25.7
Soil-CaCL2 6.7 25.8

Determination(2Bb1) pH Temperature EC

Soil-H2O 8.0 25.7 0170

Soil-KCL 6.4 26.0

Soil-CaCL2 6.3 26.1

Figure 1.1 shows the determination of EC and pH in soil

Discussion
pH and EC measurements can vary greatly and are affected by several environmental factors
including, climate, local biota (plants and animals), bedrock and surficial geology, as well as
human impacts on the land. In general, From figure 1.1 these results readings between 1-6 are
considered acidic, 7 is neutral, and 8-14 are basic. Relatively dilute waters, such as distilled
water or glacial melt water have low electrical conductivities, ranging from zero to the micro-
Seimen range, whereas temperate streams and lakes, especially those with a significant
groundwater contribution, generally have higher electrical conductivities (Corwin, 2003).
Frequent use of irrigation water will directly influence the salts in the soil profile. Salts are
influenced by factors such as rainfall content and timing, internal soil drainage, and irrigation
practices. Usually, rainfall contains low amounts of salts and acts to dilute salts that are present
in the soil. If the rainfall is of sufficient volume or duration, and the soil has internal drainage,
the added rainfall is enough to leach salts from the soil. During drying conditions, water is lost
from the soil due to evaporation, and salts are effectively concentrated. As soil pH increases
above 6.5, manganese, a micronutrient, may become limiting to plant growth. Phosphorus and
micronutrients such as copper and zinc also decrease in their plant availability at high pH
(Rhoades, 1989). Soils composed of limestone have a high native soil pH of about 8.3. Plants
grow in these high pH soils, but nutrient deficiencies are common. Some possible errors during
experiment, sample pH may also be affected by contaminated water, by microbial activity if
samples are allowed to sit for several hours before determining pH.
Conclusion
Although the relationship between pH and conductivity can be a moving target, there is overlap
in that pH indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions, and the measurement of conductivity
determines the total number of ions present in a sample.
This soil sample profiles it ranges from 6.2-8.0 pH for both A1 sample and 2Bb1 sample which
means it is slightly acidic, very low alkalinity and with low Electrical conductivity.
References
Thomas, G.W., 1996. Soil pH and soil acidity. Methods of soil analysis. Part, 3, pp.475-490.
McCauley, A., Jones, C. and Jacobsen, J., 2009. Soil pH and organic matter. Nutrient
management module, 8(2), pp.1-12.
Rhoades, J.D., Manteghi, N.A., Shouse, P.J. and Alves, W.J., 1989. Soil electrical conductivity
and soil salinity: New formulations and calibrations. Soil Science Society of America Journal,
53(2), pp.433-439.
Corwin, D.L. and Lesch, S.M., 2003. Application of soil electrical conductivity to precision
agriculture. Agronomy journal, 95(3), pp.455-471.