Cooling Towers

What is a cooling tower?

A cooling tower is heat rejection device which extracts waste and heat from equipment with the use of water to lower temperatures. Common applications for cooling towers include air-conditioning units, the manufacturing of various articles which produces excessive heat and electric power generation.

What are the dangers of cooling towers?

The main risk associated with air handling and water cooling systems is the spread of Legionnaires' disease. Legionnaires' disease is a pneumonic illness which often requires hospitalisation. Symptoms may include high fever, cough, chills, headaches, muscle pain and mental confusion.

Legionnaires' disease is transferred from environmental water habitats to humans, which makes cooling towers an ideal breeding ground for Legionella bacteria if not maintained appropriately.

What are my responsibilities in the management of cooling towers?

Your responsibility as a cooling tower operator is to ensure that the tower/s are properly maintained by applying the following where applicable:

• Keeping water cooling towers visually clean. This can be done by ensuring there is no build up of sludge, slime, algae, fungi, rust, scale, dust and dirt or any other foreign materials;
• Where feasible, install a filter to remove particular matter;
• Installing a stirring or circulation pump to avoid the water becoming stagnant;
• Installing and maintaining drift eliminators;
• Renewing any out of date equipment;
• Ensuring that access to the tower is appropriate for the ease of cleaning and maintenance; and
• Using a continuously operating disinfection system.
• Include information regarding annual disinfection / bi-annual cleans and maintaining in accordance with relebvant Australian Standard/s.

What is Council's role in the management of cooling towers?

Local Councils are required to keep a register of all cooling towers in their Local Government area. This register assists Council in keeping track of where cooling towers are located and also assists Council's inspections of all various systems throughout the area.

Holroyd Council conducts inspections annually during the financial period. The inspection frequency may increase if there is a notification of Legionella or cluster notifications.

The annual inspections are compulsory. The 2011/2012 adopted fees and charges are as follows:

Initial Inspection and Registration

What do I do once a new cooling tower is installed?

If you have recently installed a cooling tower or have increased the number of cooling towers on the premises, please complete Council's Water Cooling System Registration Form and submit this back to Council as soon as possible.

What do I do if I want to remove a cooling tower?

If a cooling tower is no longer required for use on the premises, the tower must be decommissioned by a licensed contractor. Once the tower has been decommissioned, your contractor should give you a decommissioning certificate. You must then submit this certificate together with a completed Decommissioned Water Cooling System Form to Council as soon as possible so that the tower can be removed from our register.

More information?

For more information on cooling towers, please read the NSW Code of Practice for the Control of Legionnaires Disease.