A water cooling tower uses evaporative cooling to extract waste heat from a water stream and release it into the atmosphere. There are three main types of cooling towers defined by water and air flow: crossflow towers have perpendicular water and air flow; counterflow towers have opposite water and air flow; and hyperbolic towers accelerate upward air flow to improve efficiency. Cooling towers can also be classified by their air and water flow methods, heat transfer techniques, construction, usage, and other factors.