Total organic carbon

Total organic carbon (TOC) is like a big pile of candy that you can find in a lake or a river or even in a glass of water.

You might be wondering what is organic carbon, right? Well, organic carbon is like the wrapper on a piece of candy that you eat. Organic means it comes from things that were alive once like plants and animals.

Now, imagine that all the wrappers and leftovers of the candy that was eaten by someone gets thrown away in a big pile. That’s what TOC is - the amount of all the organic stuff that’s in that pile.

Scientists use TOC to see how much of this organic stuff there is in a place. They can also use it to see how healthy the water is. If there’s too much organic carbon in the water, it can make it difficult for plants and animals to live there.

That's why scientists measure TOC to know if the water is clean or not. And that’s why it's important to not throw trash or any other things into water bodies because it can make the TOC level high and can harm our environment.