Water shortage and pollution is one of the most serious resource and environmental issues in the world today. Among many water treatment technologies, membrane separation as an efficient and environmentally friendly separation method has been widely developed. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is widely used in membrane separation technology due to its chemical resistance, aging resistance and high thermal stability. However, the applications of PTFE membrane in the wastewater treatment are limited by the strong hydrophobicity of PTFE materials. In this article, the hydrophilic modification methods of PTFE were introduced and summarized into two types of modification mechanisms, and then the applications of PTFE microfiltration membranes in the field of water treatment were depicted, and finally the future research directions of PTFE membranes’ surface hydrophilic modification of were prospected.