The permeability coefficient is an important parameter to describe the behaviour of soils in flowing groundwater and has an influence on a variety of geotechnical problems. In ÖNORM EN ISO 17892 - 11:2019 procedures for the laboratory determination of the permeability coefficient of soils are defined, which are applied e.g. in the context of geotechnical investigations. However, soils containing organic materials are not covered in this standard. Such soils are used in road projects, e.g. as topsoil for seepage hollows. The theoretical principles for determining the permeability coefficient serve as a basis for developing a test setup to investigate the permeability of soils containing organic material. An important parameter of the soil is the effective pore ratio. The ratio depends strongly on the amount of adhesively bound water to the grains of the soil. The flow condition and the viscosity of the fluid also influence the permeability coefficient. For the design of the test facility sieve analyses and a Proctor test are carried out with samples of the soil to be examined. The water content of the material is determined. With these results, the dimensions of the test specimen and the required hydraulic gradient are defined. This gradient is adjustable to control the flow behaviour in the specimens. Permeability tests with a mineral sample and without a sample with different hydraulic gradients are carried out to ensure that the test results are not influenced by the system permeability. The permeability coefficient of a Sickerrasensubstrat is determined in several tests and based on these results, the functionality of the test setup is checked.