Population growth and the expansion of industrialization and urbanization in today's world have caused irreversible climate change due to which the supply of water, the elementary component needed for one's survival, has become a great challenge to come by. High water demands that the world is now facing call for the use of unconventional sources of water for consumption. Through the process of desalination of seawater, industrial wastewater, brackish water etc., water of adequate quality can be provided for further use in industrial and municipal sectors. It is clear that water desalination capacities will continue to grow, therefore it is of crutial importance to understand the impact that it may have on the environment. Given that this is an energy-intensive process it is not difficult to image the possibility of dangerous consequences for the marine environment. For this reason, it is necessary to consider all the technical difficulties that may arise during the desalination process and the best possible techniques for solving consequential problems. Despite significant progress and process improvements through hybrid systems, new materials, upgraded mechanical components and with a meticulous view of the desalination process, much information about the real situation in the market and the world is still not under scrutiny. This paper summarizes the development of key components of membrane desalination processes to date, covers most of the challenges that we still need to overcome and outlines the grey areas in membrane desalination logistics.