There are, in the world’s warmer sections, large sections of desert adjacent to the sea where it should be possible to construct greenhouse type buildings wherein seawater could be pumped into covered evaporation ponds. Normally these type ponds are used as a source of minerals from the sea, mainly salt, and the evaporated water is lost to the atmosphere. But if the structures were covered, they could, by cooling the transparent coverings by flowing seawater, recover large quantities of fresh water condensed on the interior ceiling which could be diverted to adjacent areas for irrigation into productive farmlands. Current irrigation techniques supply the freshwater through underground piping which is more economic than open spraying of the freshwater which losses much of the water to the atmosphere. Considering the current approaching scarcity of freshwater sources for agriculture, this use of free solar energy may prove economic.
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The Greek island of Kastellorizon experienced this to avoid having to ship water from the mainland. But currently this plan has been abandoned I believe.
An easy method of getting drinking and cooking water is to use a dehumidifier with stainless steel coils. You end up with distilled water. This works especially well in humid regions like near the ocean.
There are numerous desalination systems that are produced. Many of them rely upon solar energy. See Desalination Plants Worldwide