This paper describes the computer controlled data acquisition systems designed to obtain fine spatial and temporal resolution data of tracer in soil water within a large undisturbed soil block. Such information is desirable to help understand and model transport mechanisms in light of increasingly strict environmental pollution limits. The soil block was 5.4 3.4 1.2 m, instrumented in nine layers with time domain reflectometry (TDR) waveguides multiplexed using a PC; pressure transducer equipped tensiometers multiplexed using a datalogger and suction samplers connected to in situ flow-injection analysis systems controlled by a PC. A rainfall simulator capable of applying tracer to the block without altering the surface flux (which could range from 1 to 30 mm h - 1 ) was controlled by a datalogger. Initial conditions when the soil block was subjected to a surface flux of 10 mm h - 1 are presented along with an example of a chloride breakthrough curve to illustrate the nature of the data obtained from the soil block system. It is concluded that the integrated system described is a significant advance in working technology for field and plot scale tracer experiments because the spatial and temporal resolutions achieved are possible with a single person maintaining the system.