The invention discloses a determination method for total sulfur in water quality. The method includes the following four steps: while sulfurous gas which can leak out is fixed by calcium oxide, potassium permanganate oxidation, nitric acid oxidation, hydrochloric acid regulation and barium chromate spectrophotometry are used for determining sulfate radical, which is converted into sulfur content. During total sulfur determination in water sample, calcium oxide and potassium permanganate are first added to oxidate sulfide ions under alkaline condition, sulfur in other valence states is then oxidated or decomposed into the sulfate radical under the joint oxidation of potassium permanganate and nitric acid, hydrochloric acid solution is then added to regulate the water sample and remove the color of the potassium permanganate, finally, the sulfate radical content in water quality is determined by barium chromate spectrophotometry, and total sulfur content is worked out. According to the characteristics of the sulfur in different valence states in water quality, by fixation, oxidation and decomposition, the method finally converts the sulfur in all valence states into the sulfate radical, and utilizes barium chromate spectrophotometry to determine the sulfate radical, and thereby the total sulfur in water quality is determined. Determination is simple, the result is accurate, and the method can be applied in fields such as environment protection and monitoring, food monitoring and sulfur balance analysis.