Benefited from the succesfull intensive research efforts made in various disciplines, saline water treatment continues to grow rapidly all around the world for both water and energy production. This special issue of the journal targets at novel and advanced concepts in desalination as well as improved existing and well known desalination technologies. The issue emphasizes cutting edge processes in the modern desalination field that are economically developed and are energy and environmental sustainable. Innovative membrane research for desalination, such as emerging efficient strategies for fouling/scaling control, material development, as well as concentrated brine processing are also considered.