Many cooling tower operators assume that if routine servicing is occurring, compliance is under control. In reality, we regularly speak with site managers who are unaware that their Annual RMP Review & Audit is a separate legal obligation. Often, this only becomes apparent when an audit deadline approaches or documentation is requested.

An Annual RMP Review & Audit is not optional. It is a regulatory requirement.

Under the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019, every registered cooling tower system must have a compliant Risk Management Plan in place, must undergo an annual review of that plan, and must be audited annually by an approved independent auditor. At the time of the audit, the Certificate of Registration for the cooling tower system must also be produced. These requirements apply regardless of whether servicing is outsourced. The legal responsibility remains with the responsible person for the system.

Understanding what the Annual RMP Review & Audit actually involves is critical to avoiding unnecessary compliance risk.

A review focuses on whether the plan itself remains fit for purpose. It requires technical assessment of the system, its operation, and its risk controls. An Annual RMP Review should also be conducted whenever the system is modified, when a Legionella result exceeds regulatory thresholds, when an audit identifies deficiencies, or when operating conditions change. Without an up to date and accurate RMP, compliance cannot be demonstrated.

Beyond verifying that documents are present, the auditor assesses whether records are consistent, complete, and reflective of actual system management. They consider whether actions were taken within allowable tolerances for risk and whether regulatory requirements have been met in practice. An audit is therefore not a paperwork exercise. It is an evidence based assessment of how your system has been controlled.

A compliant and current Risk Management Plan underpins the entire Annual RMP Review & Audit process. If the RMP does not accurately reflect the system, deficiencies will inevitably be identified.

An Annual RMP Review & Audit should never be treated as two isolated administrative requirements. Together, they form a structured compliance cycle designed to continuously strengthen risk control rather than simply confirm that documentation exists. The independent audit looks backward, assessing how the cooling tower system was managed over the previous audit period and identifying any gaps, deficiencies, or areas for improvement. Those findings are not simply compliance notes. They provide a clear picture of where processes, documentation, or control measures may not be fully aligned with regulatory expectations.

The annual review then shifts the focus forward. It provides the opportunity to formally incorporate audit findings into the Risk Management Plan, update system descriptions where required, refine control measures, and ensure monitoring and corrective action procedures remain appropriate. When the review is conducted promptly after the audit, necessary changes can be embedded within the plan while there is still adequate time to implement improvements before the next audit cycle begins.

This sequencing is critical. When sites delay the review until just before the next audit, pressure increases and compliance becomes reactive. Documentation must be assembled quickly, corrective works may need to be expedited, and there is limited opportunity to demonstrate that improvements have been integrated into routine management. By contrast, a well managed Annual RMP Review & Audit cycle provides a clear twelve month window to address identified risks, strengthen documentation practices, and confirm that control measures are operating effectively. Proactive scheduling reduces compliance risk, improves audit outcomes, and allows responsible persons to demonstrate due diligence with confidence.

Under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Victoria) and the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 (Victoria), the responsible person for a registered cooling tower system remains legally accountable for its management and compliance. The legislation makes clear that the duty holder must ensure a compliant Risk Management Plan is in place, that an Annual RMP Review & Audit is completed within required timeframes, and that records are accurate and available for inspection by authorised officers.

For many facilities, keeping track of compliance deadlines alongside operational demands can become challenging. Audit due dates approach quickly, documentation must be assembled, and coordination with independent auditors takes time. Without a structured system in place, an Annual RMP Review & Audit can shift from a controlled process to a reactive exercise.

Tandex assists clients by conducting structured Annual RMP Reviews, coordinating independent audits with approved auditors, confirming documentation readiness in advance, and implementing corrective actions where required. We monitor compliance timelines and contact you before your Annual RMP Review & Audit is due. Once confirmed, we manage the process through to completion so your cooling tower system remains compliant, audit-ready, and aligned with regulatory expectations.

If you would like support with your Annual RMP Review & Audit, contact us to discuss how we can help you maintain compliance with confidence.

Cooling towers are a critical part of many commercial and industrial cooling systems, yet they are often one of the most overlooked pieces of plant equipment when it comes to long-term cleanliness and internal condition. From the outside, a cooling tower can appear to be operating normally. The water may look relatively clean, routine maintenance may be occurring, and a water treatment program may be in place to control corrosion, scaling and microbial growth. Despite this, significant fouling can still be developing deep within the tower, which is often why a cooling tower super clean eventually becomes necessary.

Over time, contamination gradually accumulates within internal components such as fill packs, drift eliminators and distribution systems. Because these areas are difficult to access during routine servicing, fouling can build up without being immediately visible. When this occurs, normal water treatment alone may not be enough to restore the internal condition of the tower.

Understanding how and why fouling develops inside cooling towers helps explain why this type of deep cleaning is sometimes necessary. In the sections below, we will look at how contamination enters cooling towers, why routine treatment cannot always remove it,and how a cooling tower super clean can restore the system to proper operating condition.

Cooling towers naturally collect contamination because they continuously move large volumes of both air and water through the system. As air is drawn through the tower to remove heat from the circulating water, it also carries contaminants from the surrounding environment. Over time, these contaminants enter the cooling water and become trapped within the tower. Common sources of contamination include:

Once these contaminants enter the tower, many of them do not simply pass through the system. Instead, they become trapped within internal components where water is distributed, and heat is transferred. Even with regular servicing and a well-managed water treatment program, this material continues to circulate, and deposits gradually accumulate in areas such as:

Fill packs, in particular, are prone to collecting contamination. Their design creates a very large surface area, allowing water to spread out and maximising cooling efficiency. While this improves heat transfer, it also creates ideal conditions for debris and biological growth to become trapped within the structure.

As these deposits build up, they begin to restrict water distribution, reduce heat-transfer efficiency, and create protected areas where microbial growth can develop. Over time, this accumulation can affect both system performance and hygiene, at which point deeper cleaning may be required.

Cooling towers can operate for many years without receiving a deep internal clean, which is why understanding how often a cooling tower super clean should be performed is important for long-term system management. Because fouling tends to accumulate gradually, the warning signs are not always obvious at first. In many cases, the system continues to operate, but underlying problems slowly begin to develop.

After the internal components have been cleaned and any loose debris has been removed, the system is rinsed and prepared for recommissioning. Once the tower is returned to operation, the water treatment program can work more effectively because the accumulated fouling has been removed from the system.

Removing accumulated fouling from a cooling tower can deliver several important operational improvements. When internal deposits are cleared from fill packs and distribution systems, water and air can move through the tower more evenly. This allows the tower to reject heat more effectively and operate closer to its original design performance.

Improved heat rejection at the tower also helps reduce the load placed on the connected chiller plant. When condenser water temperatures remain lower, the chiller does not need to work as hard to achieve the required cooling output. Over time, this can reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency across the entire cooling system.

A cooling tower super clean also restores more stable water distribution throughout the tower. Clearing deposits from spray systems and internal components helps maintain consistent water flow across the fill packs, supporting reliable operation and reducing performance fluctuations.

Finally, removing accumulated debris and biofilm helps restore more effective microbial control within the system. Fouling deposits can create protected environments where bacteria survive despite chemical treatment. By physically removing these deposits, disinfectants and other treatment chemicals can work more effectively, supporting ongoing hygiene management and extending the service life of cooling tower components.

A cooling tower super clean plays an important role in maintaining cooling tower performance and system reliability. The key points to remember are:

If your cooling tower has never undergone a deep internal clean, or if ongoing fouling or microbial issues are becoming difficult to manage, it may be worth assessing whether a super clean could help restore proper control of the system. If you would like to discuss the condition of your cooling tower or arrange an assessment, contact our team, and we will be happy to help.

Boiler scale is one of the most common problems affecting industrial steam systems, yet its impact is often underestimated. When dissolved minerals in water deposit on internal boiler surfaces, boiler scale gradually builds up on heat-transfer surfaces such as boiler tubes and the internal drum.

In well-managed systems, water treatment programs and pretreatment equipment are designed to prevent deposits from forming. However, when feedwater quality changes or treatment programs are not properly maintained, minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and silica can precipitate in the boiler. Understanding what boiler scale is and how it forms is the first step in recognising why these deposits can become a problem inside steam systems.

The real issue with boiler scale is its effect on heat transfer. Boilers rely on efficient heat transfer from the combustion side of the boiler to the water being converted into steam. When scale forms on these surfaces, it acts as an insulating layer, making it more difficult for heat to pass into the water. As explained later in how boiler scale reduces boiler efficiency,this loss of heat transfer forces boilers to burn more fuel to produce the same amount of steam.

Even relatively small amounts of boiler scale can increase energy consumption and operating costs. In many facilities, the additional fuel required to overcome scale buildup can quietly add thousands of dollars to annual operating costs. To better understand the real impact boiler scale can have on energy use and operating costs,we have also included a calculator that allows you to estimate how scale buildup may be affecting your own system.

The effect of boiler scale on operating costs is not always easy to quantify. While reduced efficiency may increase fuel consumption, the financial impact can vary significantly depending on boiler size, operating hours, fuel type, and the amount of scale present within the system.

The calculator below allows you to estimate the potential cost of boiler scale based on your own operating conditions. By entering details such as boiler capacity, annual operating hours, fuel price, and estimated scale thickness, you can gain an indication of how scale buildup may affect fuel costs over time.

While the results are intended only as an estimate, they can help illustrate how even relatively small deposits may influence the overall cost of boiler operation.

Preventing boiler scale begins with controlling the quality of the water entering the boiler. Most industrial boiler systems rely on a combination of pre-treatment equipment and carefully managed chemical treatment programs to keep dissolved minerals under control. Water softeners, filtration systems, and other pre-treatment equipment remove hardness minerals and suspended solids before the water reaches the boiler, reducing the likelihood that scale-forming minerals will accumulate inside the system.

Once water enters the boiler system, chemical treatment programs help control the remaining dissolved solids and prevent mineral deposits from forming on heat transfer surfaces. These programs are typically designed to keep minerals suspended in the water so they can be removed through controlled blowdown rather than forming solid deposits inside the boiler. Regular monitoring of water chemistry is also essential to ensure treatment levels remain effective as operating conditions change.

Maintaining proper blowdown rates is another important factor in preventing boiler scale. As water is converted into steam, the dissolved solids left behind become more concentrated. Blowdown removes a portion of this concentrated water from the system and replaces it with fresh makeup water, helping prevent dissolved solids from reaching levels where scale formation becomes likely.

In systems where deposits have already begun to develop, corrective treatment programs can often remove or gradually reduce existing scale without requiring aggressive chemical cleaning. Carefully managed online cleaning programs can help restore heat-transfer surfaces while allowing the boiler to remain in operation, reducing the risk of damage that can occur during harsh cleaning procedures.

By maintaining proper pretreatment, monitoring water chemistry, and effectively managing blowdown and treatment programs, facilities can significantly reduce the risk of boiler scale formation. Controlling boiler scale not only protects the boiler itself but also helps maintain efficient heat transfer, stable steam production, and lower operating costs over the long term.

The following key takeaways highlight the most important things to understand about boiler scale and its impact on boiler efficiency:

Preventing scale formation requires effective pretreatment, appropriate chemical treatment and ongoing monitoring of boiler water conditions. If you would like assistance reviewing or improving the water treatment program for your boiler system, the Tandex team can help. Our specialists work with industrial sites across Australia to monitor water quality, control scale formation, and optimise treatment programs so boiler systems operate safely, efficiently, and reliably. You can contact our team to discuss your system or arrange a review of your current water treatment program.

When water systems in buildings are not properly maintained, a serious risk can develop quietly: the bacterium Legionella and the illness it causes, known as Legionnaires’ disease. This isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes. Legionnaires’ outbreaks can and do happen, even in modern, well-run facilities. In 2024, Melbourne recorded 71 cases, and the outbreak’s first death as health authorities worked to identify the source (The Guardian). Recently, there has been an outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs with six reported cases before the source was addressed. Similar alerts have been issued in previous years as clusters appeared across Victoria and New South Wales (news.com.au).

Outbreaks like these are a sobering reminder that Legionella control is about prevention, vigilance and responsibility, not reaction once something goes wrong.

In Victoria, cooling-tower maintenance is regulated under the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019. These set out clear obligations for the responsible person, defined as anyone who owns, manages or controls a cooling tower system. The land owner must register the cooling tower system with the Department of Health, perform an annual audit of their Risk Management Plan (RMP), and be able to produce evidence of that plan in action at any time upon request. They must also comply with all directives and allow authorised inspectors free access to assess the system’s condition and records.

As your service partner, we help ensure those obligations are met and your system operates safely:

The aim is not just to pass an audit, but to prevent an outbreak through disciplined, evidence-based maintenance and testing. For more insight into testing frequencies, interpreting Legionella results, and the specific response procedures required under Victorian regulations, visit our Legionella FAQ.

By keeping water systems clean, balanced and well-monitored, you can prevent conditions that allow Legionella to grow and protect both people and property. Here are the essentials to remember:

If your cooling tower has not been reviewed, serviced or tested recently, or if you are not confident in your current maintenance provider, contact us today. We’ll inspect your system, review your RMP and testing program, and design a maintenance plan that keeps you compliant, protects occupants and ensures the long-term safety of your facility.

In industrial operations, every minute of downtime has consequences, but most businesses still underestimate the true cost. When equipment stops, production stops. When production stops, revenue stops. And the longer the interruption, the sharper the financial impact becomes.

Most organisations think of downtime in terms of repair bills or a short disruption to routine work. In reality, the cost of downtime goes far beyond fixing the immediate problem. It affects output, customer confidence, labour efficiency, and long-term profitability. For many facilities, even a single hour of lost production can cost far more than the maintenance or part replacement that triggered the issue.

Below is a clear and practical breakdown of how downtime erodes revenue, and why strong water treatment plays a critical role in preventing these losses.

When equipment unexpectedly stops, the immediate focus is usually troubleshooting, which is entirely understandable. But the real financial damage often begins long before a technician even opens their toolkit. The cost of downtime shows up first in lost revenue, stalled output, and disrupted schedules. It’s the immediate, high-impact hit that businesses feel the moment production comes to a halt.

1. Lost Production Value: Understanding Non Recoverable Losses

This is the most financially damaging part of unplanned downtime. If your site normally produces $20,000 worth of product during a morning shift and your boiler or cooling system fails for three hours, that’s $7,000–$10,000 of revenue simply gone. Even if production resumes, those three hours’ worth of output are gone for good.

2. Wasted Labour and the Cost of Paying Teams to Stand Still

Wages don’t stop when the plant does. Operators, packers, supervisors, trades, and maintenance staff remain on the clock whether they’re working or waiting. In plants with multiple shifts or 24/7 operations, the labour component of downtime costs can easily reach thousands per hour.

3. Contractual Penalties and Downstream Disruptions

If your operation supplies key components or finished goods to other businesses, your downtime becomes their disruption. That can lead to late fees, renegotiated delivery windows, lost manufacturing slots, or breach of service-level commitments. These penalties can erode profit margins quickly.

4. Increased Wear and Tear from Restarting Equipment

Restarting boilers, cooling towers, heat exchangers, or closed-loop systems after a forced shutdown is not a gentle process. Cold starts cause thermal stress, pressure changes accelerate corrosion, and unstable water chemistry during the reset can damage components. As a result, future failures occur sooner and the long-term cost of downtime increases.

5. Reputational Damage and Loss of Confidence

Clients, auditors, and internal stakeholders notice patterns. A site with unpredictable outages is often seen as higher risk. This can affect future contracts, preferred-supplier status, or audit results. While difficult to quantify, the reputational component of downtime can be among the most expensive.

Most unplanned outages caused by boilers, cooling towers, heat exchangers, or closed-loop systems stem from preventable water-related issues. Strong water treatment dramatically reduces equipment failures, protects heat-transfer efficiency, and prevents the chemical and mechanical problems that commonly trigger shutdowns. Here’s how water treatment reduces the cost of downtime:

With the right water treatment partner, most downtime events caused by water systems can be avoided long before they reach a critical point.

Downtime is one of the most expensive operational risks a facility can face. Its true cost lies not in the maintenance bill, but in the hidden revenue lost for every minute production is halted. When you consider lost output, idle labour, contract penalties, equipment stress, and customer impact, the cost of downtime often outweighs the repair itself many times over.

Preventing downtime isn’t just an operational goal. It’s a revenue-protection strategy.

If you want greater visibility over your operational risks and stronger system reliability before minor issues escalate into costly outages, our team can review your current setup and help safeguard your site against preventable downtime. Get in touch to arrange a consultation.

It’s surprisingly common for cooling towers to lack a safe and practical way to reach the drift eliminators. Whether due to missing ladders, corroded walkways or poor tower placement, restricted access not only makes scheduled cleans more difficult, but it can also directly impact compliance, performance and safety.

During a cooling tower clean, technicians must inspect and clean the drift eliminators. This step is essential to ensure the eliminators remain free of scale, corrosion, and biofilm, allowing them to capture water droplets and minimise the risk of Legionnaires Disease. When safe access is unavailable, cleaners can’t complete this element of the cleaning process, leaving the site exposed to both mechanical and compliance risks.

Under Victoria’s Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 and associated Risk Management Plan (RMP) requirements, drift eliminators must be inspected and maintained during each scheduled tower clean. These inspections are a non-negotiable compliance task because they directly influence Legionella control and system safety. If cleaners cannot safely reach the eliminators, they cannot inspect or verify their condition. Over time, this can result in incomplete records, repeated non-compliance findings, and even the potential for an RMP audit failure. According to the Department of Health, all components of a cooling tower system, including eliminators, must be safely accessible for inspection and cleaning.

Repeated findings of “inadequate access” may require notification to the local health authority or lead to a direction for rectification under the Act. In practice, the absence of safe access is often identified as a systemic issue that must be addressed through engineering modification, rather than an administrative workaround.

Tandex technicians assess cooling tower access as part of regular water treatment visits and service reviews. If the team identifies unsafe or impractical access to drift eliminators, this is clearly documented and discussed with the site’s maintenance representative. Our goal is prevention. We support customers in resolving physical access barriers before they escalate into non-compliance or audit failure. By maintaining strong communication between service technicians, tower cleaners, and site management, these issues can usually be resolved through straightforward engineering solutions.

For sites without safe access to drift eliminators, the path to compliance is straightforward. Taking the following steps ensures maintenance can be performed safely and inspections can be completed every time:

1. Review your cooling towers to confirm whether drift eliminators can be safely reached for inspection and cleaning.
2. Engage a qualified engineer or tower manufacturer to design compliant access points if they’re missing.
3. Coordinate upgrades with your next scheduled tower clean or refurbishment to minimise downtime.
4. Document the changes in your Risk Management Plan and include photos of new access structures for audit evidence.
5. Verify compliance by confirming the new access allows cleaners to inspect eliminators safely every time.

Before making any upgrades, it helps to step back and look at what really matters most when it comes to safe access. Here are a few quick takeaways to keep in mind:

If access to drift eliminators has been identified as a concern at your site, addressing the issue early can help avoid complications during future cooling tower cleans and RMP audits. Identifying access limitations before they become a compliance issue allows corrective works to be planned and completed in a controlled manner.

For advice on creating or improving safe access to drift eliminators, or to discuss options for cooling tower compliance support, contact us today.

Running a boiler may feel like a well-rehearsed routine, but the maintenance habit that truly makes the difference is regular boiler blowdown. It is not simply another checklist item. Nor is it something our technicians raise without good reason. Blowdown is the key to maintaining healthy boiler water, protecting your equipment, and keeping your system operating at peak performance within a well-managed boiler water treatment program.

When our team reminds you to complete your blowdowns, it is not nagging. It is genuine preventative care. Boiler blowdown isn’t about making work; it’s about keeping your system reliable, safe, and efficient for years to come. To put it simply:

If you’d like help reviewing your blowdown routine or understanding whether an automatic system would suit your site, our team can help. Visit our Boiler Solutions page for more information or contact us to speak directly with a Tandex technician.

In industrial water treatment, softeners are often the first line of defence against scale and mineral deposits. By preventing calcium and magnesium from fouling boiler tubes, heat exchangers and process equipment, they play an essential role in maintaining efficient boiler water treatment performance. But hardness isn’t the only risk present in raw water. Most municipal and bore supplies also contain chlorine, chloramines, organic compounds, and other oxidants used for disinfection. These residuals can damage softener resin, corrode equipment, and undermine downstream chemical treatment programs. That’s where installing a carbon filter in water treatment adds measurable value. As an essential pre-treatment, it protects the softener, improves boiler feedwater quality and contributes to longer system life and improved plant-wide performance.

Adding a carbon filter to your treatment system goes beyond equipment protection. It optimises every part of the process. Facilities that implement this step often see immediate, measurable improvements in performance and cost efficiency.

This approach is particularly valuable when your incoming water supply contains chlorine or chloramine residuals (as most municipal systems do), when your site operates high-pressure boilers, or when downtime carries a high production cost. It’s also beneficial for facilities that have experienced premature resin degradation or fluctuating softener performance. Facilities operating long established softeners often achieve improved output stability, lower salt consumption and stronger compliance outcomes by incorporating carbon filtration. This aligns with the best practice methodology applied across our industrial service programs.

Whether you’re assessing an existing system or planning a new installation, the key advantages of adding a carbon filter are easy to identify. The main points are summarised below:

While a water softener protects against hardness, it does not prevent oxidants from gradually degrading resin and equipment over time. Adding a carbon filter in water treatment provides the missing protection layer, ensuring that both the softener and the boiler receive consistently clean, chemically stable water. For industrial sites, this combination is a small investment that delivers long-term returns in reliability, efficiency, and peace of mind. For more information on optimising system design, explore our insights on water pre-treatment and filtration or contact our team to arrange a review of your current setup.