Generally speaking, cooling tower water should have a pH between 6 and 8, a chloride content no more than 750 ppm, a sulfate content (SO4) below 1200 ppm, and a sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) content below 200 ppm. Additionally, cooling tower water should not be heated past 120 °F to avoid plating out of treatment chemicals in process coolers.

In addition, if free chlorine is used for biological growth control, it should be added intermittently with a free residual not to exceed 1 ppm and this should be maintained for short periods.