Fresh water is an essential natural resource needed for the continuous existence of living organisms in earth. Civilizations have started and flourished along river banks which can be understood from historical literatures. This precious resource has also been a cause for lot of past and current wars & conflicts among different ethnic groups and nations around the globe. In current scenario, access to clean drinking water is getting harder and more expensive for most of the population in the middle and low income countries. This book covers the basics and advancements in various solar thermal desalination systems that are highly affordable and viable even for applications in low income countries. The main features of the book are; ? Provides detailed knowledge on effectively utilizing solar energy for desalination for fulfilling clean water supply demands ? Presents detailed thermodynamic modeling of various solar thermal desalination systems ? Highlights the role of solar thermal distillation process in wastewater treatment and improved sanitation through case study ? Provides detailed methodology for assessing the economics, environmental footprints and sustainability of desalination systems Contents 1 Introduction 2 Solar Radiation Potential: Modeling, Measurement and Utilization 3 Basin Type Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 4 Tilted Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 5 Tubular Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 6 Stepped Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 7 Multi-Effect/Stage Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 8 Multi-Effect Tubular Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 9 Vertical Convection Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 10 Vertical Diffusion Solar Thermal Desalination Systems 11 Hybrid Solar Chimney – Thermal Desalination Systems 12 Solar Thermal Wastewater Treatment Systems 13 Environmental Footprints, Economics and Sustainability Appendix About the Authors H. Sharon is an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department of Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, Visakhapatnam. Prior to this position, he worked as an adhoc faculty and assistant professor in National Institute of Technology Andhra Pradesh and Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences Tamil Nadu, respectively. He has a Ph.D., in mechanical engineering with specialization in solar energy from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He received his Bachelors in mechanical engineering and Masters in energy engineering from Government College of Engineering Tirunelveli and Anna University of Technology Tirunelveli, respectively. His research interests include solar photovoltaic & thermal energy systems, desalination, waste valorization, and sustainability assessment of energy technologies. He has published about 25 peer reviewed high impact journal articles, 3 book chapters and 1 Indian patent. K. S. Reddy obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in Energy Studies in 1999. Presently, Dr. Reddy is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Madras and he is also an honorary professor at University of Exeter, UK. Prof. Reddy is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering (FNAE) and Fellow of the World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies (FWSSET). He is specialist in renewable energy with special research interests on concentrating solar power, energy efficiency and environment. He has 9 patent applications and more than 300 publications with more than 8000 citations and h-index of 50. He has secured research funding of about USD15 Million as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI in more than 30 research projects. Dr. Reddy has received WSSET Innovation award, the Mid-Career Level Institute Research and Development Award (IRDA), Shri J.C.Bose Patent award and twice, the Bhagyalakshmi and Krishna Ayengar Awards. As a part of human resource developmental activities, he has supervised over 200 UG, PG and Ph.D. students.