As the commercialization of in situ retorting of tar sands approaches, the contamination of water by organic compounds generated by the process becomes a concern. Whether one is looking at total organic content or individual species, it is important to know the quantity of organic material isolated. Previous methods of removing the organic material present in tar sand water have been limited to liquid/liquid extractions. For the purpose of this investigation, water collected from the in situ retorting of tar sands was treated by various methods to determine the most efficient in organic removal. These methods included liquid/ liquid extraction, freeze drying and resin adsorption. The organic content in the water was determined before and after each isolation. Two methods of determining the efficiency of the organic carbon isolation were utilized and compared. The first method involved the conversion of carbon to methane followed flame ionization detection and a second method converting the carbon to carbon dioxide followed by coulometric titration. The results of the various methods of isolation and detection will be discussed.