This study was carried out at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA), Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil, with the objective of obtaining information about the effect of different application levels of water/vinasse (100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1,000 m³ ha-1) on hydraulic conductivity of soil samples homogeneously packed in columns. A constant head infiltrometer and the instantaneous water profile method were utilized to determine saturated and unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity, respectively. The increase of the vinasse application levels caused a gradual decrease in the saturated hydraulic conductivity, being steeper at levels higher than 400 m³ ha-1. The water profile instantaneous method to determine the hydraulic conductivity function was very well adapted to the experimental conditions, and there was a relatively good correspondence between saturated hydraulic conductivity values detemined by constant head infiltrometer and those estimated by this method. There was no substantial difference in the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity values between water and vinasse treatments.
vinasse; hydraulic conductivity; unsaturated soil