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One aspect that affects the strength of Portland cement mortars is the correction of moisture in the mix. Thus, standard techniques are usually used to obtain the absorption value in fine aggregates; one of them is the standard ASTM C128. However, the ASTM C128 presents variability associated with the identification of the saturated surface dry state in the fine aggregates. This research compares the water absorption of four types of Colombian aggregates obtained using the ASTM C128 and an innovative instrumental and analytical technique with the thermogravimetric balance of halogen light (TBHL), coupled with a software that reads the retained water data in real time. The strength of mortars designed on the basis of moisture correction is also evaluated. The absorption results show that TBHL presents lesser dispersion results (not exceeding 10%) than the standard method ASTM C128, indicating greater precision and less uncertainty. Additionally, resources are optimized through TBHL implementation, requiring 25% less time, 86% less energy consumption, and 98% less fine aggregate for a test. Furthermore, the strength of the mortars varies depending on the method used to determine the absorption, as well as the morphology of the aggregates. The accuracy of TBHL allows better correction of the water-cement ratio in the mortars; thus, leading to higher performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]