The invention discloses an optimization method for an industrial circulating water system. The optimization method comprises the following steps: 1, carrying out field measurement on the inlet and outlet temperature and the mass flow-rate of a cooling medium and a cooled medium in a heat exchanger in the circulating water system, and the input energy of water supply equipment; 2, according to themeasurement data, determining the optimal mass flow-rate of the cooling medium in each heat exchanger, and according to the height difference and the temperature of the least favorable point of the system, determining the optimal pressure of the system; and 3, according to the obtained optimal mass flow-rate of the cooling medium and the obtained optimal pressure of the system, estimating and calculating the savable energy of a pump house by using an energy consumption balance method to determine whether the equipment is replaced or not, and if the savable energy is more than 5% of the input energy, considering the reconfiguration of the equipment. According to the optimization method, the optimal water supply amount and the necessary minimum pressure can be accurately calculated and the system is controlled to reach the requirements, the energy can be saved for the circulating water supply equipment, the running life of the system can be prolonged, and the production process is more reasonable.