A method for treating waste water comprising the steps of: (a) receiving waste water at a first pressure and a first temperature, the waste water comprising dissolved solids, volatile organic compounds and other components generally and collectively called impurities; (b) pressurizing the received waste water to a second pressure greater than the first pressure; (c) heating the pressurized waste water to a second temperature greater than the first temperature, wherein said heating step produces distilled water and pressurized/heated waste water without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces; wherein step (c) comprises the steps of: preheating the pressurized waste water to a third temperature greater than the first temperature but less than the second temperature without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces, wherein said preheating step produces the distilled water; and further heating the pressurized/preheated waste water to the second temperature without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces before applying the removing step; (d) removing dissolved solids from the pressurized/heated waste water by evaporation caused by depressurization of the waste water to produce steam and brine water, wherein the brine water has a total dissolved solids content greater than a total dissolved solids content of the received waste water; (e) crystallizing the brine water in a crystallizer to produce a solid mass of waste product and steam, wherein step (e) uses a plasma torch to crystallize the brine water, and wherein the method further comprises the step of: (b') prior to step (b), removing the volatile organic compounds from the received waste water by stripping, wherein the removed volatile organic compounds are used as a heat source by the plasma torch to crystallize the brine water in step (e), and wherein the steam produced by step (e) is used as a heat source in step (c). (a) receiving waste water at a first pressure and a first temperature, the waste water comprising dissolved solids, volatile organic compounds and other components generally and collectively called impurities; (b) pressurizing the received waste water to a second pressure greater than the first pressure; (c) heating the pressurized waste water to a second temperature greater than the first temperature, wherein said heating step produces distilled water and pressurized/heated waste water without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces; preheating the pressurized waste water to a third temperature greater than the first temperature but less than the second temperature without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces, wherein said preheating step produces the distilled water; and further heating the pressurized/preheated waste water to the second temperature without boiling of the waste water across heat transfer surfaces before applying the removing step; (d) removing dissolved solids from the pressurized/heated waste water by evaporation caused by depressurization of the waste water to produce steam and brine water, wherein the brine water has a total dissolved solids content greater than a total dissolved solids content of the received waste water; (e) crystallizing the brine water in a crystallizer to produce a solid mass of waste product and steam, wherein step (e) uses a plasma torch to crystallize the brine water, and (b') prior to step (b), removing the volatile organic compounds from the received waste water by stripping, wherein the removed volatile organic compounds are used as a heat source by the plasma torch to crystallize the brine water in step (e), and wherein the steam produced by step (e) is used as a heat source in step (c).