Provided is process for treating an aqueous solution, wherein the aqueous solution comprises dissolved sugar solids in an amount of 10% to 50% by weight based on the weight of the aqueous solution; wherein the dissolved sugar solids contain monosaccharides in an amount of 1% to 99% by weight based on the weight of the dissolved sugar solids; wherein the aqueous solution has ionic conductivity of 100 to 10,000 µS/cm and color content of 100 to 10,000 international color units; wherein the process comprises (a) bringing the aqueous solution into contact with a collection of resin particles, wherein the resin particles comprise one or more polymers; wherein the polymer comprises non-quaternary amino groups bonded to the resin particles; (b) separating the aqueous solution from the collection of resin particles to produce a resin-treated aqueous solution; (c) bringing the resin-treated aqueous solution into contact with activated carbon; and (d) separating the resin-treated aqueous solution from the activated ca
