The use of ultraviolet absorbance for monitoring the total organic carbon content of water and waste water

The correlation between ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm and the total organic carbon content was determined for a variety of aqueous samples, ranging from river water to secondary sewage effluent. high correlation coefficients were obtained for samples which contained sufficient organic carbon to permit accurate total organic carbon determinations, but even with the lower correlation coefficients it was concluded that absorbance measurements can be used to monitor a process stream for its organic carbon content if turbidity interference does not exceed certain limits.