Chlorella vulgaris was tolerant to levofloxacin, and could withstand its high doses. 96 h EC50 of levofloxacin for C. vulgaris was 58.6 mg L−1. The acclimation of C. vulgaris enhanced the removal of levofloxacin. Sodium chloride stimulated the biodegradation of levofloxacin up to 91%. NaCl (1% w/v) increased the degradation rate constant (k) of LEV from 0.011 to 0.257 d−1.