Open-loop stripping analysis (OLSA) was evaluated for the determination of volatile organic compounds that are often found as contaminants in drinking w ter produced offshore. The recoveries of alkylbenzenes, halogenated "( hydrocarbons, alkanes and some polar compounds were, in addition to their physico-chemical properties, also affected by the adsorbent filters, concentration leve) and storage conditions. Compounds with boiling points < 150°C showed significantly lower recoveries at the 1008 than at the 100 ng 1-r level. The within-and between-filter reproducibility were examined by using analysis of variance. A significant difference in recoveries was found for seven out of nine compounds for six adsorption filters with the same filter resistance. Using a single filter, the average precision for the determinations measured as standard deviation was about 4%. Water samples preserved with 1 g 1-r sodium azide could be analysed'for purgeable components within 58 days without loss of compounds. The OLSA technique is simple, effective and suitable for concentrating volatile organic compounds present at levels down to ng 1-l in drinking water. However, for accurate determination care must be taken when the concentration of the contaminants in the samples varies greatly. Selection of adsorption filters for simultaneous parallel analysis also requires special precautions.