This paper reports on the process of selecting dissolved air flotation for a plant expansion. A utility subsidiary of the American Water System, the New Jersey-American Water Company (NJAWC), acquired a water system from the Howell Township Municipal Authority in 1996. The water system included a surface water treatment plant with two packaged clarifier/filter units upstream of four pressure vessels containing granular activated carbon. Each clarifier/filter unit utilizes a dissolved air flotation (DAF) process above a shallow sand filter in a common concrete tank. The existing plant has a rated capacity of 4.0 mgd but can't exceed 3.0 mgd due to process performance limitations, and NJAWC normally operates the plant at closer to 1.0 mgd. The existing DAF process is industrial-style, and it suffers from poor bubble quality, short circuiting flow patterns and limited flocculation time.