The availability of potable water per capita is contracting because of the growth of population. Solar distillation method is a promising method for supplying potable water to rural regions. Passive solar distiller is a simple device for the partial solution of the problem of shrinking potable water, because its simplicity in construction, operation and low cost. In this work, a detailed comparison between the thermal performance of single slope single basin solar distiller (SBD) and single slope single basin solar distiller with a floating absorber (SBDFA) has been investigated. The two units are designed, fabricated and tested under the same weather conditions of Tanta, Egypt (Lat 30 degrees 47 ' N) during typical summer days. Effects of basin water mass and the type of the floating absorber plate on the daily productivity and efficiency of the proposed systems are investigated. For all investigated values of the mass of water above the floating absorber (m(wu)); the productivity of the SBDFA is found to be higher than that of the SBD. The improvement ratio of daily productivity is found to increase with the decrease of the value of mwu. The improvement ratio of daily productivity was found to be 42.2%, 15.2%, 20.1% and 17.2% when mica, stainless steal, aluminum and cooper are used as floating absorbers (m(wu) = 10 kg, m(wL) = 70 kg). The obtained experimental results indicated that the SBDFA can be used for supplying potable water with reasonable amounts. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.