A new kind of low-cost syntactic adsorbent from bamboo charcoal and chitosan was developed for the removal of microcystin-LR from drinking water.Removal efficiency was higher for the syntactic adsorbent when the amount of bamboo charcoal was increased.The optimum dose ratio of bamboo charcoal to chitosan was 6∶4,and the optimum amount was 15 mg/L; equilibrium time was 6 hr.The adsorption isotherm was non-linear and could be simulated by the Freundlich model (R2 =0.9337).Adsorption efficiency was strongly affected by pH and natural organic matter (NOM).Removal efficiency was 16％ higher at pH 3 than at pH 9.Efficiency rate was reduced by 15％ with 25 mg/L NOM (UV254 =0.089 cm-1) in drinking water.This study demonstrated that the bamboo charcoal modified with chitosan can effectively remove microcystin-LR from drinking water.