From Introduction: "The investigation of solar distillation described in this Summary Report is part of the wide-ranging program of the Office of Saline Water to develop economical processes for the conversion of saline water to fresh water." From Summary: " Since the submission of the Summary Report which covered the first two years' progress, several new stills have been constructed, including four basin-type stills for the evaluation of basin liners and other materials."

From Introduction: "This report describes the progress of the study and field evaluation of solar sea-water stills during the first 2 years of a research program being conducted for the Office of Saline Water, United States Department of the Interior, by Battelle Memorial Institute. The period covered by the report extends from January 20, 1958, to January 31, 1960."