In recent years, there has been increasing interest in finding innovative solutions for the efficient removal of contaminants from water, soil and air. The present tutorial review summarizes the results of an extensive selection of papers dealing with electrochemical oxidation, which is proposed as an alternative for treating polluted wastes. Both the direct and indirect approaches are considered, and the role of electrode materials is discussed together with that of other experimental parameters. Apart from discussing the possibility of removing selected contaminants from water using different anodes, efficiency rates for pollutant removal have been collected, the dependence of these rates on operational conditions advantages and disadvantages determining the further full-scale commercial application.