Abstract: Alongside a urban scenic river,four sections different in embankment(cobblestone,clay,bondstone and concrete posts) were selected to study quality of the river water,water at the interface between the embankment and the river water,and functional microbial ecological diversity at the interface.Results show that the former two were better than the latter two in quality of the interface water;the cobblestone bank was the highest in population of functional microbes in the interface water and in the mud over the interface,and followed by the clay bank,bondstone bank and concrete posts.The clay bank was the most capable of absorbing pollutants thus providing microbes with a favorable habitat,while the cobblestone provided a bigger surface area for microbes to live in because of its structure.