This study is devoted to the investigation of possibility to use the total organic carbon as regulated index in drinking water as well as to the issues of hygienic regulation and harmonizing this index with the standards of other countries. Basing on the results of 3 years lasting investigation carried out by Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Vodokanal" of Yekaterinburg city permits to propose as the most informative and reliable index of the presence of organic substances in drinking water the content of total organic carbon in comparison with currently regulated permanganate oxidability, chemical and biochemical oxygen consumption.