Cost-effective, reliable, passive, and decentralized systems for producing fresh potable water from abundantly available seawater and brackish and surface water from inland sources can address water stress and shortage. While several contemporary technologies are competing, a breakthrough is very much needed. Fog harvesting should be applicable along coastal areas and in a hilly environment. Thermal techniques including solar desalination and atmospheric water generators using renewable energy save on grid electricity, have a better carbon footprint, and should be more extensively developed. Decentralized methods suffer from low productivity of clean water and therefore, enhancement techniques must be explored. The global severity of water shortage is inevitable owing to changing global rainfall patterns, drought, climate change, and poor distribution. Low-cost but sustainable alternatives that may mitigate the crisis under extreme conditions are subjects of importance to the present discussion.