This study explores the use of artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for design optimization of mechanical draft counter flow wet-cooling tower. Minimizing the total annual cost for specific heat duty requirement is considered as objective function. Three design variables such as water to air mass ratio, mass velocity of water and mass velocity of air are considered for optimization. Evaluations of the cooling tower geometry and performances are based on an adaptive version of Merkel's method. Temperature and enthalpy constraints are included in the optimization procedure. Six examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed algorithm. The results of optimization using ABC are validated by comparing with those obtained by using GAMS optimization package. The effect of variation of ABC parameters on the convergence and optimum value of the objective function has also been presented. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.