Abstract: A soil permeameter and method of measuring soil conductivity utilizes a core device that is open at one end that is inserted a measure depth into the soil to be tested. A vertically elongated measuring column is connected to the core device and both are supplied with water sufficiently to develop a pressure head in the column. A timer and a data storage device responsive to the timer are provided to measure and store the time intervals for the level of liquid in the column to fall equal increments. The value of soil conductivity is calculated as a function of the depth of core insertion and the stored time intervals. Both horizontal and vertical components of soil conductivity can be determined separately.