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Computed tomography (CT) provides a nondestructive means of observing soil structure and monitoring solute breakthrough in real time. We investigated an intact soil column 10 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length using industrial CT with a resolution of 105.5 by 105.5 by 125.25 μm. The satiated soil column was scanned to obtain overall soil structure. Then 60 g L⁻¹ KI solution was injected at 6.6 mL min⁻¹ for about 23 h and solute transport was monitored in real time by scanning two critical positions in the column and taking digital radiographs. At the end of the experiment, the whole column was scanned again to obtain the overall solute mass distribution. The voxel‐based soil porosity and solute concentration were quantified. The three‐dimensional visualization of the pore network and solute distribution with time showed that both the pore network and the flow pattern varied considerably with soil depth, in part …