Simultaneous Determination of Anions and Cations in Natural Water by Ion-exclusion/Cation-exchange Chromatography with a Weakly Acidic Cation-exchange Resin Column

The simultaneous determination of anions ($SO_4 ^{2-},\;Cl^-,\;and\;NO_3^-$) and cations ($Na^+,\;NH^{4+},\;K^+,\;Mg^{2+},\;and\;Ca^{2+}$) in natural water obtained by Nakdong River waters system in Korea were performed by ion-exclusion/cationexchange chromatography with conductimetric detection. The stationary phase was a polymethacrylate-based weakly acidic cation-exchange resin column in the $H^+$-form and a weak-acid eluent. When using only a 1.4 mM sulfosalicylic acid/6 mM 18-crown-6 ether as an eluent, good resolution of both anions and cations, minimum time required for the separation, and satisfactory detection sensitivity were obtained in a reasonable time. The method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of anions and cations in natural waters.