A design procedure for cooling towers was set up using the Merkel theory In the past, the design data could be different depending on the characteristic curve that the engineer adopted. Therefore, consistent and reasonable criteria are required, which are based on the exact information of the cooling tower performance. In this study, analysis program for both the design and off-design for a counterflow-type cooling tower was developed and verified by comparing with experimental data. The off-design performance with various operating conditions was analyzed, as well.