Two solar thermal technologies are studied in this work to investigate the potential of their integration with direct-contact packed-bed humidification-dehumidification desalination systems for different locations around the world. Solar chimneys and solar heaters are the two of the technologies considered, and several locations in North America and the Middle East are examined for their potential to produce water from a "compromised" source (for example, produced water or underground brine). Preliminary results based on mathematical and numerical simulations show that a large-scale solar chimney deployed in an environment similar to the presented conditions for Arizona is capable of producing 39 g of freshwater per unit of air mass flow rate, while a small-scale plant could desalinate 25 g per unit of air mass flow rate. In addition, solar thermal heaters can increase the temperature of the air or water inflow to desalination units by around 5 to 20 °C and produce up to 18 g of freshwater for 1 kg of air mass flow rate.