To study the effectiveness of GAC and on-site reactivation, a research cooperative agreement was developed between EPA and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Under the agreement, (3) one million gallon per day (mgd) GAC contactors were constructed and an infrared furnace was purchased. The major objectives of the research effort were to assess the performance and costs of removing trace organic contaminants and surrogates from lower Mississippi River drinking water by GAC and to evaluate the effect of multiple reactivations of exhausted GAC. The paper presents experiences with operating GAC contactors and an on-site infrared reactivator. Also, surrogate and trihalomethane data are presented for comparison of the performance of virgin and subsequently reactivated carbon.