EVAPCO Marks 50 Years Manufacturing Cooling Towers and Evaporative Equipment
EVAPCO, a manufacturer of evaporative cooling equipment including closed-circuit coolers and industrial refrigeration condensers, is celebrating its 50th year as demand for high-efficiency cooling systems accelerates across data center, power generation, and commercial refrigeration sectors.
The company has built its reputation on evaporative cooling technology—systems that use water evaporation to reject heat more efficiently than air-cooled equipment. EVAPCO's product lineup includes cooling towers, evaporative condensers, closed-circuit fluid coolers, and adiabatic systems used in supermarkets, cold storage facilities, industrial plants, and increasingly, hyperscale data centers.
For contractors working in commercial refrigeration, EVAPCO equipment typically appears in rack systems serving walk-ins, display cases, and process cooling. Their evaporative condensers can reduce compressor head pressure compared to air-cooled units, cutting energy consumption by 30-40% in many applications. The tradeoff: water treatment requirements, freeze protection in northern climates, and local codes around water use that vary by municipality.
The data center buildout is reshaping the cooling equipment market. Facilities running AI and high-density compute racks generate heat loads exceeding 20 kW per rack—well beyond what traditional CRAC units handle efficiently. Evaporative systems and hybrid adiabatic coolers are becoming standard in new construction because they can reject massive heat loads while maintaining PUE (power usage effectiveness) ratios below 1.3. EVAPCO has expanded manufacturing capacity to meet this segment, which now represents a significant portion of industrial cooling demand.
What contractors should know: if you're bidding commercial refrigeration retrofits or light industrial projects, familiarize yourself with evaporative condenser sizing and installation requirements. These systems need roof access for maintenance, adequate makeup water lines (typically ¾-inch minimum), proper blowdown drainage, and year-round water treatment to prevent scale and biological growth. In retrofit scenarios, structural load becomes critical—an evaporative condenser with basin water weighs substantially more than the air-cooled unit it replaces.
For service techs, common evaporative condenser issues include fill media fouling, float valve failures, and pump seal leaks. Spring startups require checking spray nozzles, flushing basins, and confirming all freeze protection was properly bypassed. Most manufacturers recommend quarterly water quality testing during cooling season.
As refrigerant regulations tighten and energy codes push efficiency mandates higher, evaporative cooling technology will see broader adoption in sectors that previously defaulted to air-cooled equipment. Contractors positioned to service this equipment type will have an advantage in commercial and industrial markets.
Original source: Contracting Business