Book excerpt: Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the dominant desalination process worldwide for obtaining fresh water from the sea. The subject matter and scope of this book is the conceptual and advanced planning, design and engineering of plants of this desalination process together with the associated facilities for seawater pretreatment, post-treatment of the product water, wastewater treatment, seawater extraction and plant discharge. The book is intended to be used by technicians, engineers, economists and ecologists in the planning, design and operation of SWRO plants, as an educational and training tool, as well as an aid in environmental licensing of membrane desalination plants, and by interested laypersons for information about this process. The two volumes are also available as a set.