This paper reviews the wide range of organic-N compounds that have been identified by
various analytical methods in water sources. These include free and combined
aminoacids, chlorophyll, algal toxins, pesticides, nitrosamines and synthetic aromatic
compounds such as dinitrotroluenes. This paper attempts to estimate the potential number
of nitrogenous compounds in a single water sample. This number appears too large to
allow individual identification of compounds that constitute total organic-N. Review of
evidence from spectroscopic and thermal degradation methods indicates that most of
organic-N is present as amide functional groups in peptidic material and aminosugars. Includes 26 references, tables, figures.