Surface and ground water are valuable sources for drinking water. Certain industrial, mining, and agricultural
practices pollute these critical resources. Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a cost effective in-situ water treatment
process, which removes suspended solids, organic and inorganic pollutants. The RBF process is defined as a natural
filter of soils and aquifer sediments at the river site. In RBF, river water moves through the pores of the natural soils
of the riverbed and riverbank. RBF improves several physical, chemical and biological properties of the river water.
Several treatment actions including, filtration, sorption, and biological degradation occur during this process. Under
specific conditions, RBF could be used as a treatment or pre-treatment process to remove or decrease pollutants in
surface water. In this paper, the effectiveness of RBF in improving the river water quality is presented. RBF as a
cost effective water treatment process is also discussed. Furthermore, factors that affect the performance of the RBF
process and its overall effectiveness for developing countries are also discussed.