Encoding

I have a URL like so: http://foo.com?id=1&img=3&zoom=7

I am saving that as a string in my database.  I want to use it to actually get the image later on a certain page, but it keeps displaying the url as this: http://foo.com?id=1&img=3&zoom=7

Is there a way to convert it back so & = & ?

Thanks!