Once-through cooling systems, also known as single-pass cooling systems, are expensive and wasteful. These systems remove heat by transferring it to a supply of clean, cold municipal drinking water and discharging it directly to the sewer. Equipment that may use once-through cooling includes commercial and industrial air conditioners, refrigerators, coolers and ice machines.
Once-through cooling systems are often used for small commercial cooling loads because they are relatively inexpensive to install and require little maintenance. However, the cost of water to operate a small once-through cooling system for two years is usually greater than the cost of installing an air cooled system that uses no water. For a 12,000 BTU/hour (or 1 ton, roughly equivalent to 1 horsepower) condensing unit, once-through cooling uses more than one million litres of water per year. A typical restaurant has several of these units, together sending thousands of dollars per year worth of clean water down the drain. In addition to this cost, each once-through cooling system also requires a backflow prevention device that must be tested annually.