Cooling tower water management
Both Aqualogix technologies were measured in the field for GSA's Green Proving Ground program. Both findings carry the same deployment recommendation: consider for all cooling towers. Every system supplements your existing chemical treatment.
Measured by NREL for the GSA Green Proving Ground program, GPG-045 (2020) and GPG-052 (2023). Combined BDRS figure from the NREL blowdown recovery report, Appendix A. Results are site-specific.
Technology
We use these four technologies to configure a system that optimizes for your makeup water chemistry, cooling load and utility rates.
Smart softeners remove hardness from a controlled share of the makeup water. With less scale-forming calcium entering the tower, it can safely run at higher cycles of concentration.
Filtration and low-pressure reverse osmosis purify tower blowdown and return it as zero-hardness makeup. Water that used to go to the sewer goes back to work.
Self-backwashing media filters remove suspended solids down to 3–5 microns from a slipstream of tower water. Cleaner condenser tubes transfer heat better, so the chiller uses less energy.
Instead of holding a fixed conductivity setpoint, the Aqualogix Controller measures makeup and tower chemistry continuously, calculates the highest safe cycles against every scaling limit, and adjusts as conditions change.
The controller coordinates every technology from one point and logs makeup, blowdown and recovered water continuously. That record supports measurement and verification for performance contracts, and it shows your team exactly what the system is saving.
Custom projects
Beyond our packaged skids, we design custom systems for large central plants: groundwater reuse, high-salinity makeup, demineralization and large-scale softening.
Federal office complex
Groundwater the building was already pumping to drain is now filtered, softened and treated by reverse osmosis, and is blended with city water (if required) as makeup for the central plant.
Design goal: ~26 million gal/yr of potable water offset
Manufacturing plant · Mexico
A nanofiltration system designed to take rainwater, well water and supplemental sources and blend them into water that is within the plant's specifications for manufacturing.
Finished water: < 250 µS/cm
Other custom work
Independent validation
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory measured both core Aqualogix technologies in service at a 1,150-ton federal facility. Both evaluations concluded with the same deployment recommendation: consider for all cooling towers.
| Measured | GPG-045 | GPG-052 |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Partial softening | Blowdown recovery |
| Makeup water savings | 15% | 16% |
| Blowdown reduction | 52% | 53% |
| Payback (GSA avg.) | 2.6 yr | 2.8 yr |
| Chemical program | unchanged | unchanged |
NREL reports TP-7A40-76756 and TP-2C00-86615. GSA-average conditions are the program's standard basis of 3 million ton-hours per year and $16.76/kgal combined water and sewer.
Savings estimate
Enter eight values you probably already know. The example shows a representative 3,000-ton facility; replace it with your own numbers.
Strong candidate — all five screening criteria met
A screening estimate using typical values, not a quotation. An engineered estimate uses your measured water chemistry, chiller data and utility bills.
Request an engineered estimateNext step
Tell us about your facility and we will prepare an engineered estimate for your site, at no cost or obligation. Your savings screen inputs and results are sent with this form.
We will come back with installed cost and savings, equipment selection and sizing, typical installation requirements, and a flow schematic and layout.
Along with the site information sheet, it helps to have these ready:
Prefer to talk? Call (800) 268-4459 or email info@aqualogix.com.
About Aqualogix
Aqualogix LLC designs, builds, commissions and supports its systems both in the United States and internationally. We serve federal, institutional, commercial, data center and industrial central plants.
Contact
A short conversation is usually enough to know whether your site is a good fit. If it is, we will prepare an engineered estimate with equipment selection, installed cost and projected savings.
