Heating seawater to produce freshwater?

• A. Desalination
• B. Distillation
• C. Aquifers
• D. Groundwater Withdrawals

Answer: (B)

Heating seawater to produce freshwater relies on distillation. In distillation, seawater is heated until it boils and forms water vapor. The dissolved salts and other impurities remain behind, and the vapor is then cooled and condensed into liquid freshwater. This method directly uses heat to separate water from salts, which is why it’s categorized as distillation and fits under desalination.

Desalination is the broader process of removing salts from seawater, but not all desalination methods rely on heating—some use membranes and pressure, like reverse osmosis. The other options don’t describe producing freshwater from seawater by heating: aquifers refer to underground layers that store groundwater, and groundwater withdrawals are about removing water from those layers.