Water Production and Desalination Technologies by Using the Solar Energy and Suggestions for Their Future Applications

Abstract

Because global water scarcity is expected, the water shortage will occur significantly for the developing countries and vulnerable social group. It is expected that alternative water resource will be required to provide sustainable surface water supply for the areas where water infra-structure such as Dam is limited against the unexpected climate change. Groundwater which is the one of the main water sources for the developing countries is sometimes facing contaminations by heavy metals and salts from geological reason and seawater intrusion, respectively. In order to remove the contaminants, the decentralized and off-grid type ion separation technology is required. In this study, solar-power based water treatment and desalination case studies and theoretical study for solar energy were presented. Moreover, suggestions of water supply methods for developing countries and vulnerable social group were also showed considering the field conditions based on the case studies.