Step 1. Saturation
The test specimen shall be completely immersed in water at room temperature for 24 * 2 h. The specimen then shall be removed from the water and allowed to drain for 1 min by placing them on a 10mm or coarser wire -mesh. ‘Visible water on the specimens shall be removed with a damp cloth. The specimen shall be immediately weighed and the weight for each specimen noted in N to the nearest 0.01 N ( Ww).
Step 2 : Drying
Subsequent to saturation, the specimens shall be dried in a ventilated oven at 107 + 7°C for not less than 24 h and until two successive weighing at intervals of 2 h show an increment of loss not greater than 0.2 percent of the previously determined mass of the specimen. The dry weight of each specimen (Wd) shall be recorded in N to the nearest O.OI N.
Step 3: Percent Water Absorption (W %)
The percent water absorption shall be calculated as follows:
I.S. limit: The water absorption, being the average of three units, when determined in the manner described as above, shall not be more than 6 % by mass and in individual samples, the water absorption should be restricted to 7 %