UV photolysis and UV based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are gaining more and more attention for drinking water treatment. Quantum yield (?) and molar absorption coefficient (?) are the two critical parameters measuring the effectiveness of photolysis of a compound. The product of the two was proposed as a fundamental measure of a constituent’s amenability to transformation by photolysis. It was shown that this product, named the photolysis coefficient, kp, can be determined using standard bench tests and captures the properties that govern a constituent’s transformation when exposed to light. The development showed the photolysis coefficient to be equally useful for microbiological, inorganic and organic constituents. Values of kp calculated by the authors based on quantum yield and molar absorption coefficient data from the literature were summarized. Photolysis coefficients among microorganisms ranged from 8500 to more than 600000 and are far higher than for inorganic and organic compounds, which varied over a range of approximately 10 to 1000 and are much less sensitive to UV photolysis than the microorganisms.