A cooling tower water treatment system might be made up of the technologies

necessary to regulate the level of:

 alkalinity: will dictate potential of calcium carbonate scale

 chlorides: can be corrosive to metals; different levels will be tolerated based on
materials of cooling tower and equipment
 hardness: contributes to scale in the cooling tower and on heat exchangers
 iron: when combined with phosphate, iron can foul equipment
 organic matter: promotes microorganism growth, which can lead to fouling,
corrosion, and other system issues
 silica: known for causing hard scale deposits
 sulfates: like chlorides, can be extremely corrosive to metals
 total dissolved solids (TDS): contribute to scaling, foaming, and/or corrosion
 totals suspended solids (TSS): undissolved contaminants that can cause
scaling, biofilms, and/or corrosion