Although UV 254nm is an indicator of the total organic level in water, it does have a bias towards a specific type of organics known as aromatic organics. Other water quality parameters that measure organics have their own biases.

Other organic water quality parameters include total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biological oxygen demand (BOD). TOC indicates the level of organics in water by measuring the total carbon content. DOC is similar to TOC except all organic particles larger than 0.45 microns are removed prior to testing. COD indicates the level of organics by detecting substances that are susceptible to chemical oxidation. BOD is similar to COD except BOD detects substances that are susceptible to biological oxidation.

UV 254nm, TOC, DOC, BOD and COD all provide measures of different aspects of the organic content of the water. Each of these parameters possesses a certain bias due to the nature of the particular parameter. However, correlations between the different organic water quality parameters can be made.

Since TOC, DOC, BOD and COD are expensive, time consuming and complicated to test, UV 254nm can therefore be used as a surrogate or supplement to these other organic tests.

UV 254nm is fast emerging as the most practical organic testing parameter with Real Tech Inc.’s products providing a real solution.