Hello Sara, I recently carried out studies on the conductivity of water mixed with a few percent agar. Maybe this is similar for your case. The agar itself contains water-soluble substances (salts) which increase the conductivity of distilled water. On the other hand, the non-conductive substance (agar forms a gel after heating and cooling) also causes a decrease in conductivity. However, it is much more likely that gels increase the path length, as the water is trapped in open pore spaces. Perhaps this consideration will help you. Best regards, Andreas
I think the minerals present in the woodchip can be dissolved in water and increase the number of ions in the water, which increases the electrical conductivity of the solution. The resulting solution is likely to be alkaline.