What becomes of the beautiful statues of Lord Ganesh once the Ganesh Chaturthi festival is over? They're placed in a body of water and left to disintegrate in a process called visarjan (immersion). In Mumbai alone, more than 150,000 statues are immersed each year!
The largest Ganesh statues, on display to the public, are usually immersed on Anant Chaturdasi -- 11 days after the first day of the Ganesh festival. However, many people who keep a Ganesh in their homes choose to perform the immersion much before this. There are no hard and fast rules as to when it's done. Rather it's up to personal preference. Anant Chaturdashi is the last and biggest day of Ganesh Visarjan i.e. September 5, 2017.
Hindus worship idols, or statues, of their gods because it gives them a visible form to pray to. They also recognize that the universe is in a constant state of change. Form eventually gives away to formlessness. However, the energy still remains. The immersion of the statues in the ocean, or other bodies of water, and subsequent destruction of them serves as a reminder of this belief.
The final immersion is also seen as a ritual send-off for ganesha journey back to his home on the sacred mountain of Kailash , with a prayer to return back soon again. It's also believed that Ganesha takes away problems and obstacles of his devotees before departing on his journey.
The initial idols were made of mud but over time, Plaster of Paris (POP) became quite common. However, the latter pollutes the rivers and clogs water sources and contains harmful levels of mercury and cadmium. With growing awareness, a lot of people are now opting for eco-friendly idols made of easily dissolvable soil, coconut husk, fish friendly foods, and plant seeds. 
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Ganpati bappa morya ~ Shubh Ratri 
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