Abstract <p>Improvement of traditional groundwater circulation well by utilizing ozone for aeration, while filling the position of the upper planar hole with activated carbon, was investigated to determine the treatment effect of total petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene and toluene, which are three typical pollutants in the remediation of groundwater by ozone/activated carbon enhanced groundwater circulation well. The results showed that after 192 h of groundwater ozone aeration at 30 L/min, the removal rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene and toluene in ZJ1, a circulation well in the area closer to the pollution source, reached 97.46, 99.54 and 90%; and the removal rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene and toluene in ZJ2, located in the area farther away from the source of contamination, reached 99.76, 99.42 and 99.1%; the ozone/activated carbon enhanced groundwater circulation well used in this study had an impact radius of 5 m. Among the three monitoring wells, GW1, GW2 and GW3, the highest removal rate of each pollutant was found in GW3, followed by GW2, and the lowest was found in GW1. Compared with the existing groundwater circulation well, the ozone/activated carbon enhanced groundwater circulation well improved the remediation efficiency and provided a new idea to solve the problem of in-situ remediation of contaminated groundwater in Chinese contaminated sites, and has a broad application prospect and engineering reference value.</p>