Over time, your cooling tower collects nutrients, airborne dirt, and debris in the different components of your tower. If not properly cleaned, contaminants can cause blockages or corrosion. This can lead to your cooling tower not operating efficiently or a complete failure of your system. In fact, motors can burn out if you don’t take care of your cooling tower.
Cleaning cooling towers also helps prevent the spread of harmful bacteria and other contaminants, including Legionella Pneumophilia, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease. Legionella is found in water sources and can spread out over a large area due to aerosols carrying the bacteria from the tower.
Let’s look at the steps involved in how to clean a cooling tower.
Step 1: Turn Off the Cooling Tower and Put on Protective Gear
This might sound obvious, but before cleaning cooling towers, you need to turn them off. This can usually be done by finding a switch or a breaker.
These fans move at an unbelievable speed and can hurt or kill a person in an instant. Safety should be your first priority whenever you clean or service a cooling tower.
Next, make sure you’re wearing protective gear. The heat and moisture inside of a cooling tower are ideal for the growth of dangerous bacteria, including Legionella. This is something you do not want exposure to if you can help it.
You’ll want to wear respiratory protection, including a mask. You’ll also want to wear gloves and eye protection. Taking these precautions will help keep you safe from getting sick when cleaning cooling towers.
Step 2: Inspect the Cooling Tower
Before you begin the cooling tower cleaning process, take the time to inspect your tower. This is vitally important. It’s useless to spend the time and money to clean your cooling tower if you miss or ignore underlying issues.
You want to look for any signs of physical damage, including cracks or leaks. Look for anything that you think needs attention. Take your time with this step. Finding and resolving an issue now will be less costly than going quickly and missing it. Having to do this again not only costs money for repairs, but also creates downtime for your system.
You also want to check for any clogs or blockages that might impede the flow of water. This might not be something you can do yourself. If that’s the case, it’s always good to look into professional cooling tower cleaning companies to do this for you.
Step 3: Cooling Tower Treatment for Bacteria
Once you’ve inspected the cooling tower for any issues or damage, it’s time to treat it for bacteria and other contaminants. This will help keep your workers safe and their health protected.
The treatment is completed by spraying the cooling tower surfaces with a mold-killing product or a biocide/chlorine solution. It’s important to read and make note of the manufacturer’s instructions carefully so you use the correct cooling tower cleaner. Using something that isn’t made for your cooling tower can be disastrous and lead to bigger issues.
Step 4: Remove the Sludge
After spraying your cooling tower with a mold-killing solution, you’ll need to remove any sludge that has built up in your cooling tower’s fill media. This is usually done in a couple of steps.
First, you can use a detergent and manually scrub the surfaces with a soft brush. This is a good way to make sure that everything comes off. Sometimes, just using a hose can leave some debris on the walls and you want to make sure you get it completely clean and shining like brand new.
Again, consult your owner’s manual so you don’t use something abrasive in the cooling tower cleaning procedure. Using the wrong cooling tower cleaning equipment can lead to a more expensive repair or replacement.
After you’re happy with the job you’ve done with the surfaces, you’ll want to get rid of the remaining sludge and other debris. This can be done using an industrial vacuum that works just like the one you have at home. This step will ensure that anything that didn’t drain out is removed entirely from the cooling tower.
Step 5: Fix Fill Media Clogs
The fill media is one of the major components in your cooling tower. It is the main heat transfer area available. Long-term use can lead to scaling, deformation, aging, sediment deposits, and algae growth. All of these things can clog your fill media.
If your cooling tower has clogged fill media, it will need to be thoroughly cleaned. You can conduct a cooling tower fills cleaning by vacuuming the surface to remove contaminants. You’ll also want to continually treat circulating water using a biodegradable descaler at the manufacturer’s recommended levels.
Clogged fill media can cause your cooling tower to work less efficiently and lead to bigger issues, including water leaks. Cleaning cooling towers regularly will solve these potential issues.
In Conclusion
Your cooling tower needs to be cleaned and given some TLC, or it won’t work properly. A regular cooling tower cleaning should be conducted at least twice a year to not only maintain efficiency but prevent the spread of disease.
Pinnacle CTS is your cooling tower service and repair company in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. We’re dedicated to a safe environment, a high standard of quality, and customer satisfaction. These are our core values. Our factory-trained mechanics and technicians are authorized and supported by most major manufacturers.
Contact us and learn how we can help your cooling tower work better and more efficiently through regular cleaning.
