A novel method for the direct determination of silicate in water by ion exclusion chromatography with conductivity detection is reported. The method is simple and sensitive with good precision. The calibration graph was linear from 0.1000 micromol l(-1) to 1000.0 micromol l(-1) for silicate with a correlation coefficient of 0.997 (n=6). The detection limit was 0.02 micromol l(-1). The method was successfully applied to the determination of silicate in mineral water, tap water, distilled water and seawater. The recovery was from 93 to 104% and the relative standard deviation was in the range of 1.1 to 4.4%.