The volume packed is sometime causing some confusion. The volume mention on the bags of BVB is always the so called volume according to the EN 12580 standard. The EN 12580 standard is applied by all professional peat soil producers to ensure the same volume is packed. It is basically the volume of peat soil at the moment when the bags are filled. Due to compaction after packing the peat soil, the volume when using will be a bit lower. Please read the following text to learn more about the EN 12580 standard.
European standard EN 12580 is the European Standard specifies methods for the determination of a quantity of soil improvers and growing media in bulk and in packages. This is a reference method, which is designed with an appropriate precision level so that it can be used to validate any quantity declaration made.
The method is presenting in the link below to show how the volume be measured for peatmoss with European standard EN 12580
· First weight the empty calibrated cylinder.
· Make sure that the standard with the fall controller is separated from the cylinder and collar. This avoids jogging or vibrating material in the cylinder during the filling process.
· Filling material in small volume and spread it on the fall controller by hand or work it through carefully, without pressing. Repeat it until the cylinder and collar are full.
· Remove the collar then lower the strip with 2 hands through the centre of the cylinder. Push the material from the centre away with a sowing movement to one side then remove from the centre for other side of cylinder. If the surface is not flat yet, repeat again and last time from front to back
· Put back pieces that are pulled loose. When the surface is flat, fill up small holes then weight the full cylinder.
· Calculate weight of cylinder to get weight of 1m3 (1000 litters). Getting the weight of 1m3, the producer will calculate how many kilo’s need to add in the bags to get right liters for packages.
This is a verifiable way has been used since 2000 to measure the volume of peatmoss in Europe. The EN 12580 volume measurement is certainly not the same as water volume. It is based on the volume at the time of production before it is packed.