"This report presents the results of a study of the preliminary feasibility and economics of desalting brackish waters for municipal and industrial watter supply in candidate regions of West Texas" (p. ii).

"The major factors which influence the cost of water production from sea water by distillation methods are (1) the cost of fuel or energy required by the distilling plant, and (2) the required capital investment. Preliminary studies on the application of absorption or solution cycles to distillation methods for saline water conversion indicated that the fuel cost or thermal economy of a distillation plant could be improved by combining the distillation process with an absorption or solution cycle" (p. 1).