The results from this study indicate that polyacrylamide polymers used for water and wastewater treatment strongly absorb light in the 191.5–230 nm wavelength range, and the peak absorbance was measured at 191.5 nm for all of the seven polymers tested in this study. The detection limits in distilled water were different for different polymers and depended on polymer type and chemistry. In addition, presence of organic and inorganic impurities in water samples impacted the detection limits. In distilled water samples, the detection limits were below 0.1 mg / L for all polymers at 191.5 nm.