Production décentralisée de lʹeau potable à lʹénergie solaire Original Research Article

Seventy percent of the Earthʹs surface is covered by water. However, many regions of the world suffer from a lack of potable water. River water is rarely accessible in adequate quantities and often not of a quality that corresponds to accepted hygiene standards. Along coastlines, wells contain brackish water of little or no use to households. To counter this lack of water, various technical processes have, therefore, been developed over the last decades to desalinate seawater and brackish water. These techniques, however, require large investments which are frequently beyond the means of most developing countries. The supply of potable water to settlements with modest water needs such as lashing villages along the North Africaʹs coast can be ensured through the use of solar stills with which sea water can be desalinated and water of insufficient quality can be made potable. By recuperating and reusing the same quantity of thermal energy in several stages, it has been possible to reduce the total energy needed to the extent that solar energy can now be seen as an acceptable energy source for water desalination (COP: 3.0–4.0).