In an effort to help restore the Everglades, federal and state of Florida agencies initiated pilot studies
designed to evaluate potential options to treat Lake Okeechobee water. The high level of organic
material, which resulted in high color values and low UV transmittance in the water, presented a
challenging obstacle to achieving the project's goals of meeting all Primary and Secondary Drinking Water
regulations. As part of the pilot study, ozonation and UV disinfection were evaluated in conjunction with
bank filtration as the pretreatment step. The findings of the study revealed that a synergy was observed
by combing ozonation with UV disinfection, resulting in a reduced cost when compared to using either
system alone. Includes table, figures.