TP26-11 Cooling Tower Case Study: Results of Neglecting Maintenance

While there are several different styles of cooling towers, for example, counterflow, 
crossflow, and closed circuit, the general best practice is to perform regular inspections 
and preventative maintenance, to maintain thermal performance, and extending the 
useful life of the components, and the tower itself. 
The water treatment program is also a valuable part of this process, so hiring an 
experienced company, and implementing a water treatment program, to protect the 
tower from algae, biological growth, legionella, ect, is also very important. 
The last main item is safety, many times cooling towers won’t have safe (or any) access, 
including platforms, ladders, and handrail, which get damaged and aren’t repaired or 
replaced, which can be detrimental to the employees, and contractors, who have to get 
onto and inside the towers to perform their work.