Abstract The fate of fertilizer N applied to agricultural soils is of growing concern due to the potential for groundwater contamination. The recent development of an exchange resin that specifically absorbs NO3 has led to the potential for a new technique to measure cumulative NO3 leaching. The main limitation to the application of the resin technique is the matching of water movement through the resin with that of soil. A soil water movement device was developed to compare water movement through the resin to that of soil. A study was initiated to develop a resin/soil pack with water movement characteristics that closely matches those of natural soils. Three different soil types were used in this study: a Cahaba sandy loam (fine‐loamy, siliceous, thermic Typic Hapludult), a Congaree clay loam (fine loamy, mixed, nonacid, thermic Typic Udifluvent), and a Hiwassee clay (clayey, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Rhodudult). Both pure resin and resin mixed with soil were found to have higher water movement characteristics compared to bulk soil. A resin pack method was found which had water movement characteristics that were not significantly different from that of bulk soil for the three different soil types. The resin pack method is described.