Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-019-1120-9

Antibiotic resistance in aquatic environment hasbecome an important pollution problem worldwide. In recent years, muchattention was paid to antibiotic resistance in urban drinking water systems dueto its close relationship with the biosafety of drinking water. This review wasfocused on the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, as well as the presence,dissemination and removal of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibioticresistance genes (ARGs) in the urban drinking water system. First, the presenceof ARB and ARGs in the drinking water source was discussed. The variation ofconcentration of ARGs and ARB during coagulation, sedimentation and filtrationprocess were provided subsequently, in which filtration was proved to be apromising technology to remove ARGs. However, biological activated carbon (BAC)process and drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) could be incubatorswhich promote the antibiotic resistance, due to the enrichment of ARGs and ARBin the biofilms attached to the active carbon and pipe wall. Besides, as fordisinfection process, mechanisms of the inactivation of ARB and the promotionof conjugative transfer of ARGs under chlorine, ozone and UV disinfection weredescribed in detail. Here we provide some theoretical support for futureresearches which aim at antibiotic resistance controlling in drinking water.