Municipal solid waste (MSW) has a significant calorific value. Increasingly, its thermal energy is being recovered by combusting or gasifiying MSW for electricity generation and district heating. However, many communities in arid regions have combined waste disposal and water shortage problems suggesting the use of the thermal energy inherent in MSW to desalinate seawater. This paper makes an initial assessment of this concept and concludes that useful quantities of fresh water can be so produced. Further study is required to optimize the waste to water conversion and to assess the economy of the concept relative to competing desalination energy sources.