This special issue WPP (Water: From Pollution to Purification) of Environmental Science and Pollution Research presents selected papers presented at the second International conference on Water: From Pollution to Purification (ICW2016) conducted during Dec.12–15, 2016, in Kottayam (Kerala, India) hosted jointly by Inter University Instrumentation Centre (IUIC), the School of Environmental Sciences, and the Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development: An Inter University Centre (ACESSD), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam along with the Centre for Environment Education and Technology (CEET), Kottayam.

Water pollution and potable water scarcity are two issues which have been in the limelight for so many decades. Rapid industrialization, demographic explosion, and unscientific water resource management are the major reasons for the situation. A wide array of pollutants from nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) to contaminants of emerging concern is affecting the quality of global water resources. All these issues are of particular concern in India too. In this context, water pollution and treatment technologies are two important areas of interest. The involvement of several sophisticated equipments in recent years helped to detect trace amount of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, heavy metals, and other emerging pollutants in water bodies. A wide variety of water treatment technologies are also being developed. However, an economically viable as well as highly efficient water treatment technique for treating all the chemical water contaminants is still under intense research. On the other hand, it is really a paradox that when there is a cry for cheaper water purification technologies, a high price is being given to tackle water borne diseases. The main objective of the conference was, therefore, to bring together experts in diversified areas of environmental science and technology. Another component of this conference was a discussion on environmental awareness and education. The participants were from several countries. Indian participants are from mainly national research organizations and industrial R&Ds and from central and state universities. ICW2016 thus connected researchers from chemistry, physics, engineering, environment, geology, and many more due to its interdisciplinary nature. The main focuses of the conference were fixed as,

  • Agricultural, industrial, and domestic pollution of water

  • Pollution from emerging pollutants (pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, nanoparticles, etc.)

  • Pollution from industries (distilleries, tanneries, textiles, and paper industry)

  • Heavy metal contamination

  • Pollution from radioactive materials

  • Physical treatments (membrane separation, adsorption, etc.)

  • Chemical treatments (oxidation process, coagulation, precipitation, stabilization, etc.)

  • Biological treatments (bioreactors, activated sludge process, etc.)

  • Nanotechnology in water treatment

  • Photocatalytic and other oxidation technologies

The conference was attended by nearly 250 participants from all over the world. It was enriched with 5 plenary talks, 26 invited talks, 25 short talks, 10 young investigators presentations, and 74 posters. The young investigator session was designed after a rigorous selection of invited papers from investigators below the age of 30. The response from the participants and other connected scientists for manuscript submission to this special issue was very encouraging. Nearly 69 papers were submitted to this special issue and after a thorough review process, 27 papers were accepted. Eight manuscripts were rejected after peer review. Thierteen manuscripts were rejected after initial screening. Another 21 manuscripts were rejected for possible resubmission. Since the authors could not resubmit this on time, these manuscripts were not considered for inclusion. The accepted papers cover a wide range of research issues related to both pollution and purification/remediation of water. This covers specific monitoring of pollutants in water bodies, engineering aspects of potential pilot plants for water purification, various advanced material for water treatment, and oxidation technologies for the removal of organic pollutants from water.