With snow blanketing the northern parts of the country in several feet of snow and a polar jetstream dip that resulted in every state in the contiguous United States experiencing freezing temperatures, according to the National Weather Service, this advice may come too late for some. But for those plants located in temperature regions of the United States that have put off cooling tower preventive maintenance and have not yet experienced freezing temperatures, water treatment solutions provider U.S. Water offers tips on cooling tower lay up.

What is cooling tower lay up, and why do you need do it? These two questions are among the most common fielded each fall, says U.S. Water, St. Michael, Minn. The provider of integrated water management solutions explains that skipping cooling tower lay up, leaving the chiller full all winter, or waiting until spring to clean the system are paths to a disaster that will show you just how important proper and timely lay up can be.

In its blog post, the company asserts that the biggest risk of damage to your equipment occurs when systems are idle. Failing to properly lay up a system can result in increased corrosion and damage to the cooling tower and chillers. The company offers tips for small-volume recirculating systems and chillers as well as large volume recirculating systems with an isolated chiller loop. Read more on the company's website.