The purging device must be designed to accept 5 mL samples with a water column at least 3 cm deep. The gaseous head space between the water column and the trap must have a total volume of less than 15 mL. The purge gas must pass though the water column as finely divided bubbles with a diameter of less than 3 mm at the origin. The purge gas must be introduced no more than 5 mm from the base of the water column. The purging device illustrated in Figure 1 meets these design criteria.