This report describes the soil water budget of two beech forests and two clearings in the forest distict of Essen (West Germany). A physical model of water movement in soil was used to calculate monthly sums of the seepage water that leaves the root zone. This information is essential for the evaluation of the ion budgets at these sites. The simple model of water flow through a forest ecosystem is calibrated against measurements of soil water potential over depht and time. The report exemplifies how such models can help to reduce the experimental effort within studies that aim at the water and ion budget of forests.SILVA Økologische Gutachten und Umweltanalytik Gmbh, am Pappelberg 10. D-3401 Ebergøtze
