The aim of this work was to assess the effect of chlorine water treatment on Arcobacter butzleri and to study the survival strategies of this organism in chlorinated and non-chlorinated drinking water. A. butzleri NCTC 12481 was inoculated into chlorinated and non-chlorinated water and samples were removed aseptically, immediately and periodically during the next 2 days (for chlorinated drinking water) or 35 days (for non-chlorinated drinking water). The membrane integrity (Live/Dead BacLight kit), 16S rRNA (FISH technique), DNA content (23S rRNA PCR-RFLPs) and culturability changes in A. butzleri cells were analyzed. Culturability of the cells was lost at 5 min in chlorinated drinking water. At that time the cells showed membrane damage, although fluorescent intensity of 16S rRNA hybridization was constant throughout the chlorine treatment. After 48 h the amplicon specific for the 23S rRNA gene was weakly detected. In non-chlorinated drinking water cells lost their culturability after 16 days but the other factors measured indicated that Arcobacter remained viable throughout the experiment.