The concept of “cycles of concentration” can be difficult to understand but is one of the most important parameters in managing a cooling water treatment program. Failure to maintain the proper cycles can result in corrosion and/or scale formation as well as greatly increase water and treatment costs.

Defining Cycles of Concentration:

The term used in calculating and determining the amount of bleed is called cycles of concentration. Cycles can be defined as the number of times the dissolved minerals in the system cooling water are concentrated versus the level in the raw makeup water. Cycles are NOT the number of times a given volume of water flows over the tower in a given time frame, and NOT related to cycling the tower on and off in a given time frame.

Reprinted with Permission from Chem-Aqua