ISSN: 2319-8753 International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology Vol. 2, Issue 7, July 2013 Copyright to IJIRSET www.ijirset.com 3175 Comparison of Performance Analysis between Single Basin Solar Still made up of Copper and GI M. Koilraj Gnanadason 1 , P. Senthil Kumar 2 , Vincent H. Wilson 3 , A. Kumaravel 4 , B. Jebadason 5 Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PRIST University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India 1 . Professor and Head, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, KSR College of Engineering, Tiruchengode, Tamilnadu, India 2 . Director, Engineering & Technology, PRIST University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India 3 . Professor and Head, Dept. of the Mechanical Engineering, KS Rangasamy College of Tech., Tiruchengode, Tamilnadu, India 4 . Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SCAD Engineering College, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India 5 . Abstract: Water is essential to life. The origin and continuation of mankind is based on water. The supply of drinking water is an important problem for the developing countries. The increasing world population growth together with increasing industrial and agricultural activities all over the world contributes to the depletion and pollution of fresh water resources. The rapid increasing need for energy and environmental concerns has focused much attention on renewable energy resources. Among the non-conventional methods to desalinate brackish water or seawater, the cheapest method is solar distillation. The yield of the single basin solar still is very less and it increases considerably when the solar still was built with copper sheet. They greatly improve the rate of evaporation and the rate of condensation on the cooler surface. The efficiency is higher for solar still made up of copper sheet and it can be increased further by providing a heat absorbing materials inside the still. This cost-effective design is expected to provide the rural communities an efficient way to convert the brackish water in to potable water. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental ones. Keywords: Solar Still, Distillate, Solar Radiation, Still Efficiency. I. INTRODUCTION Water is a nature’s gift and it plays a key role in the development of an economy and in turn for the welfare of a nation. Non-availability of drinking water is one of the major problems faced by both the under-developed and developing countries all over the world. There is a severe shortage of fresh water in the world today. In developing countries, lack of safe and unreliable drinking water constitutes a major problem. Worldwide drought and desertification are expected to increase the drinking water shortage to become one of the biggest problems facing the world. As population grows, there is less water per captia. At the current trend of growth, it is predicted that the global population will reach 8 billion by 2025 and the per captia water available will go down. Along with depletion and pollution of existing water supplies, the growing world population leads to the assumption that two thirds of the population will lack sufficient fresh water by the year 2025 [1]. As the available fresh water is finite on earth, its demand is increasing day by day. The increasing world population and the rapid increase of industrial and agricultural activities all over the world contribute to the depletion and pollution of fresh water resources. Hence, there is an essential and earnest need to get fresh water from the saline/brackish water present on or inside the earth [2]. Water is an abundant natural resource that covers three quarters of the earth’s surface. However, around 97% of the water in the world is in the ocean, only about 3% of all water sources are potable. Less than 1% fresh water is available within human reach and even this small fraction (ground water, lakes and rivers) is believed to be adequate to support life and vegetation on the earth and the rest is permanent snow cover, ice and permafrost in polar region. About 25% of the world does not have access to good quality and quantity of fresh water and more than 80 countries face severe water problem [3]. The rapid increasing need for energy and environmental concerns has focused much attention on renewable energy resources. Nowadays pollution in rivers and lakes by industrial effluents and sewage disposal has resulted in scarcity of fresh water in many big cities around the world [4].