Sedimentation experiments were carried out in columns in which particle-particle interactions were minimized. Particle concentration profiles were generated using turbidity measurements at different times and heights of the column. This was done using the relationship between turbidity, time, and a dimensionless diameter, specified using a simple Stokes' relationship. The method was proved to be sufficient to characterize the occurrence of destabilization in these dispersions which, in this paper, was correlated with work already published in this field, using different methods. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.