Solar Distillation of Water for Rural Household in India

With exponentially increasing population and rapid industrialization the available freshwater is becoming more polluted and scarce day by day. The effect of consuming this polluted water can be seen more severely in rural areas as most of the rural households do not have access to clean and purified water as compared to their urban counterparts. A major part of population living in rural areas of developing countries don't have privilege to useelectric water purifiers and alternatives of RO purifiers are expensive and requireskilledlabor to maintain and operate these units. A solar still is system that uses the energy of the sun to purify water. it is able to supply pure water for drinking and cooking, even in areas where there are no other sources of energy, while still being friendly to the environment. Peoples living near open cast mining sites such as in Jharkhand and other parts of India are facing huge problems related to polluted water. A person needs pure water for at least drinking purposes. Ouraim is to fulfill this mere necessity of individuals and make their lives a little better then now. Solution of these problems lies in use of renewable and non-conventional energy sources [1]. this study shows the basic principles of distillation by solar energy, types of solar still systems, and the developments in solar still systems.