Water is the most essential natural resource required for the sustenance of all living beings on the planet. With the increasing population and industrialization, the sources of clean and potable water are getting polluted. Therefore, there is an urgent need and requirement of development of cost-effective and stable materials and methods for providing fresh water to water industry in adequate amounts. In this context, nanomaterials have been found to be an excellent candidate for the purification of water and wastewater. Nanomaterials are full of unique properties such as high surface-to volume ratio, high reactivity and sensitivity, having the property of self-assembling on substrates to form films, high adsorption which makes them suitable for water treatment processing. This project describes various applications of nanomaterials, for the removal of various types of impurities/pollutants from polluted water. Nanomaterials should be cost-effective and eco-friendly for sustainable development of water purification process. Modern water purification techniques based on nanomaterials should be flexible, highly efficient and cost-effective.