Cooling Towers
Under the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992, there is a requirement to register cooling towers and evaporative condensers intended to operate within the Test Valley area with Test Valley Borough Council.
For purposes of these Regulations, “cooling tower” means a device whose main purpose is to cool water by direct contact between that water and a stream of air; “evaporative condenser” means a device whose main purpose is to cool a fluid by passing that fluid through a heat exchanger which is itself cooled by contact with water passing through a stream of air; and “heat exchanger” means a device for transferring heat between fluids which are not in direct contact with one another. This applies to any cooling tower or evaporative condenser except:
(a) where it contains no water that is exposed to air; and
(b) where its water supply is not connected; and
(c) where its electrical supply is not connected.
A registration form for the purpose of notifying Test Valley Borough Council may be downloaded from this webpage.
If you make any changes to an existing registered cooling tower or evaporative condenser, you must also tell Test Valley Borough Council within one month of the change. You should also notify the Council if a registered device ceases to operate or otherwise no longer requires to be registered.
The main purpose of this notification process is to identify potential sources of risk, especially risks associated with legionella, and allow enforcing authorities to monitor and inspect them more easily.
Advice about the management of legionella risks associated with evaporative cooling systems is given at: Evaporative cooling systems - HSE