Water pollution is an emerging problem across the world due to rapid population growth and modern industrialization. Waste water contains organic (such as phenolic derivatives, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons etc.) and inorganic compounds (e.g. heavy metals) which can cause serious disorder. Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, considered an effective technique for treating wastewater laden with organic contaminants. The method successfully harnesses abundant and sustainable solar energy for water purification.ZnO and TiO2 are well known photocatalysts to degrade organic and inorganic pollutants. However, these materials still require modifications with other nanomaterials because these materials absorb only ultraviolet part of sun light due to wide bandgap and the excitons created under the UV light recombinerapidly. In this talk, I will present our group’s recent work about visible light activated nanostructured photocatalystsfor removal of dyes and toxic heavy metals. Photocatalytic activity was enhanced through sensitization with carbon/quantum dots, doping withtransition metals and functionalization with metal nanoparticles. Developed materials are reusable, and their nanostructures do not change after repetitive usage. Finally, development of inexpensive prototype photochemical reactor will bediscussed towards continuous flow operation.Our current research focus is to develop visible light activated low-cost and scalable photocatalysts to treat effluent water from industries in particular, pharmaceutical and tannery.