Direct forced draft fluid cooler/closed loop cooling towers and cooling towers are provided with fans at the bottom of the unit, and a plurality of layers of water collection troughs or channels above the fans to capture water droplets sprayed downwardly from the top of the device through a heat exchanger or fill media above the collection troughs. In one embodiment the collection troughs supply the collected water to one or more gutters inside the housing which lead the water to an external collection tank from which the water is recirculated through the system.