Procedures for determining organic matter indirectly and directly in sludges are described. A good agreement between chromic acid oxidation and dry—combustion elemental analysis methods of determining organic‐C was observed. Sludge organic matter content was determined directly by loss‐on‐ignition by thermal analysis. An average C factor of 1.68 to estimate the organic matter from organic‐C, obtained by chromic acid oxidation method, was calculated for aerobically digested sludges.