A laboratory investigation was conducted for capillary water movement from sand layered soil columns in the presence of a water table. The results showed that sand layer influenced capillary water movement velocities and height. The wetting front arrival times were prolonged not only by the thicker sand layer and the higher sand layer location, but also the worse sand distribution. Soil water content profiles were changed, i.e. there was greater underlayer soil water content and smaller upperlayer soil water content in the layered soil when compared with the uniform soil. The total evaporation amount of groundwater in the layered soils column was significantly smaller than homogeneous soil. Moreover, the total evaporation amount decreased with the thicker interlayer sand and the thinner surface sand. Soil water evaporation is more sensitive to changes of sand layer location at depth in evaporation stage.