Soil water repellency is a widespread phenomenon with the capacity to alter hydrological and geomorphological processes. Water repellency decays with time, and the consequences are only of concern during the timescale at which the water repellency persists. This study aimed to characterize the influence of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of water repellency. Apparent contact angle measurements were carried out on samples consisting of sand treated with stearic acid as well as naturally repellent dune sands and composts. Temperature and humidity were controlled using a cooled incubator and a purpose designed enclosed box in which humidity could be raised or lowered. Results showed the contact angle of the stearic‐acid‐treated sands decayed with time and that there was a significant increase with stearic acid concentration. For all samples, the decay in apparent contact angle could be described with a continuous breakdown model. The stearic‐acid‐treated sands showed a significant increase in contact angle with relative humidity at a temperature of 10 and 20 °C. These differences diminished with increasing temperature. Similar results were seen for the dune sands and composts. Despite the influence of temperature and humidity on contact angles, there was no significant change in the rate at which the contact angle decayed in any sample. Absolute humidity was found to provide a more relevant indicator than relative humidity when assessing the influence of humidity on repellency over a range of temperatures. The contact angle initially increased with absolute humidity before plateauing owing to the confounding effect of temperature. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study assessed the impact of compost on the hydraulic properties of three soils (sandy loam, clay loam and diesel-contaminated sandy loam) with relatively poor physical quality typical of brownfield sites. Soils were amended with two composts at 750 t/ha. Samples were also collected from a clay-capped brownfield site, previously amended with 250, 500 or 750 t/ha of compost. Water-release characteristics and saturated hydraulic conductivity were determined for all soils and physical quality indicators derived. Unsaturated flow in field profiles after compost application with two depths of incorporation and two indigenous subsoils was simulated using Hydrus-1D. Compost generally increased water retention. Hydraulic conductivity tended to decrease following compost application in sandy loam but increased in clay and clay loam, where compost addition resulted in a larger dominant pore size. Although compost improved physical quality indicators, they remained suboptimum in clay and clay loam soil, which exhibited poor aeration, and in the contaminated sandy loam, where available water capacity was limited, possibly due to changes in wettability. Increasing application rates in the field enhanced water retention at low potentials and hydraulic conductivity near saturation but did not alter physical quality indicators. Numerical simulation indicated that the 500 t/ha application resulted in the best soil moisture regime. Increasing the depth of incorporation in the clay cap improved drainage and reduced waterlogging, but incorporation in more permeable subsoil resulted in prolonged dry conditions to greater depths