I have cored my dam site and borrow area and the dam site looks really good but the borrow area is suspect. I am waiting on results from the lab but am doing a bucket test while waiting. I took a large plastic pickle jug and drilled 8 each 3/8" holes in the bottom and lower side. Packed bottom 3" with pea gravel, placed my borrow material 5" deep, added water and compacted. Filled jug with water and in 1 day emptied. Compacted soil with coke bottle again, filled with water and covered top with saran wrap. Last night lost 1". Is this an acceptable amount of loss and how long do you run the test? Also if you see any problems in my procedure please advise. I also performed the same test in a plastic cup without the pea gravel and lost no water for 2 days.