To explore the effects of nutritional conditions on bacterial motility and surface attachment,Pseudomonas aeruginosa WT PAO1 and PAO1 ΔfliC (nonmotile mutant) as a model bacterium was used to study cell motility and attachment under various nutrient conditions in drinking water distribution system. To interpret the experimental results,a model was proposed by linking initial surface attachment with cell motility and growth at small scales via individualbased modeling via MATLAB platform. Results showed that nutritional conditions shaped significantly bacterial motility and surface attachment. Nutritional limitation stimulated bacterial motility and thus favored surface attachment for motile cells. In contrast,reducing nutrient concentrations yielded a decline of surface attachment for nonmotile cells. Under various nutritional conditions,attached cells and ratios of WT PAO1 cells were significantly higher than those of PAO1 ΔfliC,validating the crucial role of cell motility on surface attachment. The quantitative analysis of bacterial growth,motility and interactions with nutritional conditions would be beneficial for predicting nutritional conditionsmediated cellcell and cell surface collisions. It will provide mechanistic understanding of bacterial aggregation and attachment process.