We propose an improved structure of an optical biosensor based on a photonic crystal with a defect layer, which can detect the concentration of organic contaminants in water by defect mode shift. We investigated 4 types of defective photonic crystals with different arrangements of layers inside the perfect photonic crystals and their impact on the performance of the sensor. The sensitivity and amplitude of defect mode were examined as a function of defect layer thickness. Also, the peculiarities of edge modes in the presence of defect layer were investigated. Finally, we obtained a characteristic equation to determine the wavelengths of defect modes for an arbitrary 1D photonic crystal with an isotropic defect inside.