An efficient approach to the problem of exchanging all the ions in a salt solution for resin hydrogen ions is to pack the beads into a glass tube to prepare an ion exchange column. The salt solution is then introduced at the top of the column and slowly passed through the resin. If the flow rate is sufficiently slow for exchange to take place and the column contains an excess of exchangeable hydrogen ions over solution cations, exchange is complete. A small volume of pure water is passed through the column after the salt solution to insure that all the displaced hydrogen ions are rinsed off for analysis. The resin used in this experiment is initially supplied in the hydrogen form.
Regeneration is carried out by eluting the column with a concentrated solution of the desired ion.
The process of pouring purified water through the column. Subsequent additions of liquid to the column should not be made until the liquid from the previous addition has passed down into the column.