Environmental contamination is one of the most important factors responsible for degradation of the surface environment on the earth. Heavy metals play a dominant role in this degradation. Phytoremediation is an environmental remediation technique that takes advantage of plant physiology and metabolism. The purpose of this paper is to review the previous papers on the phytoremediation experiments of Eleocharis acicularis. The E. acicularis is easily cultivated and controlled in environments with abundant water, hyperaccumulates Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Cd, Cs and Hg; showing great potential for use in the phytoremediation of water environments contaminated by the heavy metals. The E. acicularis shows great potential for use in the phytoremediation of water environments contaminated by heavy metals including radiogenic elements. The present results also indicate that phytoremediation by the E. acicularis is likely to be widely applicable to tropical areas of Southeast Asia.