In this recent research, four types of triangular solar distillation systems for treating of lake water were constructed. One of them was conventional solar still, while the two other stills were equipped with sand layer and black sponges in the basin. The last system was prepared with 50 W solar photovoltaic-DC heater. The study was conducted to enhance the drinking water production experimentally under Malaysian tropical climate. The productivities of combining sand layer and solar panel-heater were 33 and 43 higher than the conventional solar still. This finding is expected to have useful applications in water supply particularly in remote, rural and coastal areas. © 2013 IEEE.