Industries/Water & Wastewater
Water & Wastewater NDTLarge-diameter welded steel transmission mains, plant piping and structural steel.
A large-diameter welded steel water transmission main is a pipeline. It is strung, welded, inspected and buried the same way, and the girth weld decides the same thing it decides on a gas line. Prime Inspections brings radiographic, ultrasonic and surface examination to welded steel water and wastewater infrastructure — mains, plant process piping, tanks and structural steel.
On a municipal job the inspection record is part of the deliverable, not an afterthought. Every weld is reported against the governing code the owner's specification names, and archived as a digital record.
- Transmission mains
- Plant piping
- Tanks
- Structural steel
- Digital records
What we would inspect
Welded steel — the part of a water system our methods apply to.
Steel transmission main welds
Radiographic, digital radiographic and ultrasonic inspection of girth and seam welds on large-diameter welded steel water transmission mains, including tie-ins, fittings and specials.
Treatment & pump station piping
RT, PAUT and conventional NDT on plant process piping, headers, manifolds and pump station piping, with UT wall-thickness surveys on operating circuits.
Tanks, reservoirs & vessels
Floor and shell UT thickness surveys, MT, and welded-seam inspection on welded steel tanks, and UT, PAUT and RT on pressure vessel welds, nozzles and internals.
Structural steel & supports
MT and PT on structural steel, pipe supports, platforms and weldments, and radiographic inspection of structural and fabricated steel welds during shop and field construction.
What we would bring
Pipeline crews on pipeline-shaped work
A steel transmission main is welded and inspected like any other pipeline. The crews, the equipment and the reporting are the ones already doing that work every day.
Smaller exclusion boundaries in town
Municipal work happens next to streets, houses and traffic. Digital radiography runs at lower source strength with smaller exclusion boundaries, and with an X-ray tube there is no isotope on the job — the tube is energised only for the exposure.
A record the owner can hand to anyone
Images are stored, retrieved and shared as digital records, and every weld is reported against the governing code, ready for the owner's file and the project close-out.
Clear about our scope
Welded steel, examined and reported. We do not do CCTV or sewer inspection, leak detection, lining or coating inspection, or concrete, PCCP, ductile-iron or HDPE-specific services.
Codes of record
Welded steel water pipe is normally built and inspected to the owner's specification and the applicable AWWA standards for steel water pipe and its fittings, with structural welds to AWS D1.1, plant process piping to ASME B31.3, pressure vessels to ASME Section VIII and welded steel tanks to their construction standard. Examination requirements come from ASME Section V where the specification invokes it. Whatever code your specification names is the one we report against — those standards describe the asset, not a Prime certification.
Methods we run on this work
Frequently asked questions
Does Prime inspect water and wastewater infrastructure?
The methods apply directly to welded steel: girth and seam welds on large-diameter steel transmission mains, plant and pump station process piping, welded steel tanks, and structural steel. Ask us what we have done in your sector and we will tell you straight rather than imply a record on a web page.
Which methods would you use on a steel water main?
Radiography — film RT, digital radiography (DR), computed radiography (CR) and real-time radiography (RTR) — plus PAUT, AUT and TOFD where the wall or the access calls for it, and MT, PT, UT and VT.
What code would you report against?
Whatever your specification names. Welded steel water pipe normally references the applicable AWWA standards for steel water pipe, with AWS D1.1 for structural welds, ASME B31.3 for plant process piping and ASME Section VIII for pressure vessels.
Are you AWWA certified?
No, and no NDT provider is — AWWA publishes standards for the pipe, not a certification for inspection companies. Prime is certified to its own written practice under ASNT SNT-TC-1A / ANSI/ASNT CP-189 with ASNT Level III oversight, and reports against the code your specification names.
Is there an isotope on the street?
Not when the work is shot with an X-ray tube: the tube is switched on only for the exposure, so there is no isotope on the job, and the exclusion boundary is smaller than a gamma shot would need.
Do you do CCTV, sewer inspection or leak detection?
No. Our scope is the nondestructive examination of welded steel. We do not perform CCTV or sewer inspection, leak detection, cathodic protection surveys, lining or coating inspection, or hydrostatic testing.
Do you inspect concrete, PCCP, ductile iron or HDPE pipe?
No. Our methods are for welded steel and fabricated steel components.
How do I get a quote?
Use our contact form or call (281) 944-3840 with the scope, the pipe size and the governing specification, and our team will follow up.
Steel water main or plant scope?
Tell us the diameters, the specification and the schedule — we will tell you exactly what we cover.