A technique is presented for the determination of trace concentrations of copper (II) in natural water samples by cathodic stripping voltammetry of a film of copper-catechol complex ions adsorbed on the hanging mercury drop electrode. The peak height of the copper-catechol reduction peak is linearly dependent upon the copper (II) concentration between 10−10and 10−7M. The detection limit of the technique is below 10−10M copper (II) for a collection time of 3 minutes, but the sensitivity can be further increased four-fold by collecting for 15 minutes. The sensitivity is reduced by high concentrations of competing trace metals and of surfactants, which necessitate the use of standard additions to the sample.