Two treatment technologies currently recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the removal of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from water are packed tower aeration (stripping) and granular activated carbon adsorption. The purpose of this study was to develop analysis tools to help the engineer decide which treatment process is best in a given set of circumstances. Removing organic contaminants from water by stripping adds an additional burden of controlling air pollution. Hence, three treatment scenarios were considered: stripping, stripping followed by gas phase adsorption, and liquid phase adsorption. Technical feasibility and economics were considered. When feasible, stripping alone is always the cheapest option; stripping with gas phase adsorption was more expensive than liquid phase adsorption for some compounds (especially at high concentrations) but less expensive in other cases.