Reliable estimates of saturated hydraulic conductivity are prerequisites for accurate estimations of water flowand chemical transport through soil profiles. One useful method for evaluating the saturated hydraulic conductivity in thefield (Kfs) is the constant-head well permeameter (CHWP) method. The governing equation for this test is based uponflow of water from a cylindrical hole and flow theory for unsaturated-saturated steady flow from the hole. By makingassumptions concerning the flow from the well, a solution to the equation is derived which includes coefficients obtainedfrom measurements taken during the test and two parameters related to the soil type being studied. An importantparameter in this solution method is the * parameter, the ratio of Kfs to the matric flux potential. Relationships arederived and presented which describe the sensitivity of the CHWP solution to variations in *. Results show the solutionfor Kfs is most sensitive to error in the estimate of * when * < 0.015 mm1, corresponding to fine-textured andcompacted clay soils. The error in Kfs introduced by poor estimates of * is shown to be as large as 210%, for somecases. Thus, the current classification system used to evaluate * for this test appears to be inadequate to producereasonable estimates in Kfs.