A new sensitive, colorimetric method based on the direct measurement of light-absorption by an ion-exchange resin phase, which has sorbed the sample complex species, has been developed. Determinations ofchromium(VI) with diphenylearbazide, iron(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline, copper with Zincon and cobalt with thiocyanate have more than ten times the sensitivity obtainable with conventional solution colorimetry. The present method can be applied to natural water samples containing very low levels of these metals.