Due to the pending promulgation of the Disinfectant/Disinfection Byproduct (D/DBP) Rule, the reduction of DBPs is an increasingly active area of research. For many utilities, the preferred alternative for DBP control is to employ treatment strategies to remove DBP precursors and to continue the use of free chlorine as the primary disinfectant. In the interest of cost and process optimization, small systems have considered the use of modified conventional processes such as enhanced coagulation and softening to achieve higher total organic carbon (TOC) removals. However, in addition to capital costs for precursor removal, process control can also be difficult and costly for small systems. Many small systems do not have the capability to measure TOC on-site and would have to send samples to be analyzed. Constant TOC analysis and monitoring could become quite expensive for small systems and, in addition, the data would not be available immediately for process control. The goal of this study was to demonstrate that color can be used effectively as an indicator of precursor control and can accurately predict seasonal variations in TOC that could pose treatment difficulties. Furthermore, color monitoring is common for many small systems already and its continued use for precursor monitoring could be potentially helpful for utilities complying with the D/DBP Rule.