To boost crop yield, sugarcane growers are using increasing amounts of pesticides to combat insects and weeds. But residues of these compounds can pollute water resources, such as lakes, rivers and aquifers. The present paper reports the results of a study of water samples from the Feijão River, which is the source of drinking water for the city of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. The samples were evaluated for the presence of four leading pesticides--ametryn, atrazine, diuron and fipronil--used on sugarcane, the dominant culture in the region. The samples were obtained from three points along the river: the headwaters, along the middle course of the river and just before the municipal water intake station. The pesticides were extracted from the water samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and then analyzed by liquid chromatography with diode array detection (LC-DAD). The analytical method was validated by traditional methods, obtaining recovery values between 90 and 95%, with precision deviations inferior to 2.56%, correlation coefficients above 0.99 and detection and quantification limits varying from 0.02 to 0.05 mg L(-1) and 0.07 to 0.17 mg L(-1), respectively. No presence of residues of the pesticides was detected in the samples, considering the detection limits of the method employed.