A cooling system for circulating a fluid past a heat-exchanger comprises a vertical surge column and a cooling tower to reduce the heat level of a circulating fluid for delivery to the surge column. The cooling tower is mounted on the surge column which is adapted to support substantially the entire weight of the cooling tower. Heat-exchanger coils are provided which are coupled to the surge column to receive the circulating fluid therefrom and to return the circulating fluid to the cooling tower. There is also provided a circulating device which is operatively coupled to the surge column, cooling tower, and heat-exchanger coils to circulate the circulating fluid therebetween.