The hydrolytic behavior of a metal can be related to its removal by foaming. In this study the effect of pH and ionic strength on the foam separation of 0.1 mM zinc (II) was investigated using different concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate as the collector. At low pH Zn2+ion was removed by foam fractionation while above pH 8 Zn(OH)2(s) was removed by precipitate flotation. The results demonstrate that precipitate flotation is a more efficient removal process than the foam separation of soluble metal species.