Organic compounds in raw and drinking water, not amenable to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, were characterized by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and collision-induced decomposition/mass-analysed ion kinetic energy (CID/MIKE) spectrometry. Anionic, cationic and non-ionic surfactants were successfully identified by comparison of their FAB spectrum and CID/MIKE of prominent ions with commercial standards. Organic dyes were spiked to water extracts and the detection limit for some of them reported.