An apparatus for removing organics from water has an upwardly open and downwardly closed column having a tubular side wall and a floor and a generally closed chamber on the floor of the column and forming with the side wall an upwardly open annular space. The column has an outlet opening into the annular space. A pump forces water containing organics into the chamber and thereby fills the column with water that then flows out of the column through the outlet. An aerator pump moves at least some of the water containing organics out of the chamber, mixes the pumped-out water with bubbles, and pumps the water and bubbles back into a downwardly and horizontally closed but upwardly open flow space in the column above the chamber. A skimmer clears the organics from the surface of the water above the flow space.
