A rotary multi-stage distiller for recovery of water from wastewater is provided. The rotary multi-stage distiller of the present invention can recover water from a wide variety of aqueous wastewaters such as, but not limited to, urine, condensate from air conditioning systems, wash water containing foaming soaps, seawater or polluted water. The multi-stage distiller can operate under vacuum conditions permitting the distillation to occur at low temperatures. The multi-stage distiller uses centrifugal forces for fluid pumping and for vapor/liquid separation. The multi-stage distiller comprises hydraulic seals for each stage which eliminate contamination of clean, recovered water by condensed waste water during the regeneration process. The multi-stage distiller also comprises a stationary shaft of stacked segments where each segment is associated with an individual stage of the multi-stage distiller. The number of stages therefore, of the multi-stage distiller of the present invention can be readily adjusted as needed by either adding a segment with a stage to the stationary shaft or removing a segment of the shaft with a stage to decrease the number of stages.