<p>With increasing risks of climate change, the water resources have also been declining, and to address this many water treatment and water separation technologies has emerged. Water-based microfiltration membranes (MF) offer numerous benefits over other types of membranes, such as energy efficiency, high flux, and ease of operation. The ultrafiltration membrane (UM) technology has the potential to contribute to this water separation process at the greater level, with its features such as small land occupation, lower energy consumption, easy to handle and customize operation allow this technology to widely used. The most promising technique for purifying water is nanofiltration (NF) membranes, which provide several benefits, such as minimal maintenance costs, high penetration flux, low operating pressure, and high retention of multivalent ions. Among different process the polymeric RO membranes are the dominant stream due to their low cost, ease to mold according requirements and ability to modify their structure by different methods (surface modification and filler incorporation). This review article summarizes the issue and challenges of water purification membranes.</p>