In the present article, the suitability of activated carbon and other alternative adsorbents for wastewater treatment has been reviewed. It is evident from literature survey of last 20-25 years that researchers have gained success to some extent in developing inexpensive adsorbents for water pollution control utilizing naturally available and waste materials. However, still there is a need to find out the practical utility of such developed adsorbents on large-scale and safe and eco-friendly disposal of spent adsorbents. Among the various known forms of pollution, water pollution is of great concern since water is the prime necessity of life and extremely essential for the survival of all living organisms. Indeed, it is a part of life itself, since the protoplasm of most living cells contains about 80% of water. It is worthy noting that only 0.02% of the total available water on the earth is immediately available for use in the form of rivers, lakes and streams. However, years of increased industrial, agricultural and domestic activities have resulted in the generation of large amount of wastewater containing a number of toxic pollutants, which are polluting the available fresh water continuously. With the realization that pollutants present in water adversely affect human and animal life, domestic and industrial activities, pollution control and management is now a high priority area. The availability of clean water for various activities is becoming the most challenging task for researchers and practitioners worldwide. As a result of the serious efforts of researchers all over the world in the field of pollution control and management, a number of methodologies with varying degrees of success have been developed to manage water pollution. Some of them involve coagulation, foam flotation, filtration, ion exchange, sedimentation, solvent extraction, adsorption, electrolysis, chemical oxidation, disinfection, chemical precipitation and membrane process 1,2 .