Bluegrass Hydronics and Pump Turns Emergency Replacement Into No-Cost Upgrade With Delta Cooling Towers

By installing antimicrobial cooling towers from Delta Cooling, Bluegrass Hydronics and Pump helped a rural Kentucky school district qualify for a federal grant to replace a failed tower and another nearing the end of its life. The units solved the two biggest issues the school district was facing: budget constraints and the need for durable solutions.

It all started when a cooling tower used in conjunction with the school’s HVAC system failed. The old, metal-clad cooling tower at the area middle school required significant maintenance over the years. However, the district was hoping to delay the expense of replacing it along with another aging metal tower used by the high school.

“They needed a new tower, fast. Theirs was in real bad shape from years of rust buildup and they were experiencing all kinds of leaks—panel leaks, gasket leaks, everything,” explained Zach McKinney, sales engineer at Bluegrass Hydronics and Pump, which helped the school district with the cooling tower replacement.

Often in an emergency situation, researching for optimal replacement options gets tossed aside for what can be done quickly and easily. Fortunately, for the school district, the team at Bluegrass had experience with advanced engineered-plastic cooling towers.

Going for the Grant

To cut costs, McKinney had a plan. He knew that some engineered-plastic cooling towers are now manufactured with antimicrobial properties. He believed this feature would qualify the towers for government funding under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program.

Created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, ESSER funds are awarded to schools that need to repair or improve their facilities. To qualify, the improvements must reduce exposure to environmental health hazards. Originally intended for COVID-19 relief, the program was expanded in 2021 to include other environmental health and safety projects not directly related to coronavirus.

Antimicrobial engineered-plastic cooling towers were first designed to help prevent outbreaks of the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ disease. Unlike metal towers, engineered plastic can be molded with special wide-spectrum antimicrobial additives throughout the plastic. These additives operate on a cellular level to continuously disrupt and prevent uncontrolled growth of microorganisms and biofilm within the cooling tower.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains how Legionnaires’ disease can grow and spread and how to prevent it. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/legionnaires/index.html

“It worked! The school district was awarded the grant and was able to acquire both towers at no out-of-pocket expense,” said McKinney.

A Textbook Case

The adoption of antimicrobial cooling towers has become increasingly important because of the growing number of outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease at numerous locations throughout North America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 18,000 people are infected with the Legionella bacteria in the United States alone every year. Found naturally in freshwater environments, Legionella becomes a health hazard when it grows unabated in water that is not properly treated. A significant number of outbreaks have originated in cooling towers.

“A cooling tower is the perfect breeding ground for Legionella, because it’s wet and humid and exposed to sunlight,” explained McKinney. “The Legionella will colonize the walls of the tower, and the colony will grow bigger and bigger.”

Cooling towers have a long history of effectively expelling heat from the water used in many commercial and industrial applications. However, even when they are disinfected and properly maintained, cooling towers are potential breeding grounds for Legionella, according to the CDC.

Legionella bacteria spread to humans when expelled water vapor or mist containing the bacteria is inhaled. For this rural Kentucky school district, the location of their cooling towers amplified their concerns over this issue.

“One of the towers sits right by the football stadium,” said McKinney. “Can you imagine if they had an outbreak right there with all those people in the stands? That would be bad news!”

Back to School

The school district ultimately selected a TM series 310-ton cooling tower and a 250-ton Paragon model manufactured by Delta Cooling. The company pioneered engineered-plastic cooling towers in the 1970s and recently innovated the first cooling towers featuring antimicrobial resins in not only the fill, but also the entire base cooling tower structural material, sump, and drift eliminator.

The engineered-plastic towers are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is impervious to the natural and chemical causes of rust and corrosion. The towers are also unaffected by the acidity from water sources, including evaporation make-up water and even the water treatment chemicals that attack metal towers from the inside out. This feature solved the second issue for the school district.

“Durability was a huge part of what won us that job,” added McKinney. “With HDPE, the whole tower is molded in one piece, so you don’t have any of the leaking points that caused the failures in metal towers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Delta puts a 20-year warranty on their towers. You just don’t get that kind of lifespan with metal towers.”

To further reduce ongoing cost and maintenance requirements, the school district also wanted to get away from the belt-driven fan systems that require periodic downtime for replacement. The Delta Cooling direct-drive fan eliminates the belts entirely. In addition, the variable-frequency drive motor, which requires less horsepower than the school district’s previous towers, is already translating into a substantial savings on electric power consumption.

“We are actually already working to roll this out again at other schools,” concluded McKinney. “The ESSER funds are still available, and with these antimicrobial HDPE cooling towers, we know we can help other schools improve their situation.”

For more information, visit www.deltacooling.com, call 800-289-3358, or email sales@deltacooling.com.