Book excerpt: Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Desalination Handbook provides professionals and researchers with the latest treatment activities in the advancement of desalination technology. The book enables municipalities and private companies to custom-design sustainable desalination plants that will minimize discharge, energy costs and environmental footprint. Individual case studies are included to illustrate the benefits and drawback of each technique. Sections discuss a multitude of recently developed, advanced processes, along with notable advances made in existing technologies. These processes include adsorption, forward osmosis, humidification and dehumidification, membrane distillation, pervaporation and spray type thermal processes. In addition, theoretical membrane materials, such as nanocomposite and carbon nanotube membranes are also explored. Other chapters cover the desalination of shale gas, produced water, forward osmosis for agriculture, desalination for crop irrigation, and seawater for sustainable agriculture. International in its coverage, the chapters of this handbook are contributed by leading authors and researchers in all relevant fields. - Expertly explains recent advances in sustainable desalination technology, including nanocomposite membranes, carbon nanotube membranes, forward reverse osmosis and desalination by pervaporation - Provides state-of-the-art techniques for minimizing system discharge, energy cost and environmental footprint - Includes individual case studies to illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of each technique - Discusses techniques for the custom-design of sustainable desalination plants for municipalities, private companies and industrial operations