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As a world leading pipeline service provider, we here at Rangeline like to ensure that we are able to provide our users with a high quality solution to any problem that they may run into. With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, we have been able to ensure that we are able to provide a wide range of different services, including emergency services that help businesses at times when they need it most, no matter the day of the year or time of the night.
In the end, both services are conducted in an effort to yield the same result. This provides a temporary shut off that allows the company and the customer to make repairs, changes to the pipeline, or relocate pieces of the pipeline without having to shut the entire system down. Pipe freezes are most common when there is no flow in the line. Line stops are great for lines that are continuing to flow during this time. Both are meant to keep companies running while a number of different issues are sorted out with a given pipeline.
An often overlooked question is, what is the difference between a hot tap and a wet tap? They both are utilized to provide connections to a pipeline. The main difference is going to depend upon the pipeline material. Typically, hot taps are performed on carbon, stainless steel, brass, copper, and a number of other different pipeline materials. Typically, a hot tap will be a welded application, but sometimes may feature a bolted application.
A wet tap refers to water or waste water contained within the pipeline. Typically, wet taps are conducted on a variety of different materials including ductile iron, concrete cylinder pipe, and transite, each of which present their own issues.
The difference between the two services is the type of pipelines they are utilized on, as well as the products that are flowing within the pipeline.
Rangeline has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, providing pipeline services to thousands of different businesses during that time. We are a valued member of a number of different organizations in the water safety and pipeline industries, helping us to ensure that we are constantly revising our businesses practices to ensure that we are adhering to the latest guidelines. Our 20+ years of experience in the industry make us a trusted provider of pipeline services to businesses located all over the United States.
Our emergency services are available on holidays, 365 days a year. No matter what time you might require pipeline repair services, we can help you to ensure that you get your business up and running quickly and efficiently, without having to worry about losing precious time that would affect your bottom line.
What is a wet tap? A wet tap procedure enables us to tap into existing pressurized pipelines without inhibiting the flow. This is important, because most wet taps are done on potable water, reclaimed water, and sewage lines, so any interruption in services can be inconvenient at best and life threatening at worst. A wet tap can be used for an enormous variety of procedures and as such, is constantly in demand. Almost all of our (wet tap) water main and (wet tap) pipe requests come from city officials in charge of the water-based infrastructure for residential and commercial areas. Learn more about our wet tap services, including how a wet tap procedure is performed and what separates a wet tap from a hot top.
Wet taps are used for a variety of reasons. The most common is construction. Wet taps can be used to add new lines to an existing pipeline or water main to bypass an old or damaged system. This bypass can be temporary in order to affect repairs, or permanent. Small wet taps can be used to install sampling ports, which is essential for potable water quality control. They can also be useful as emergency measures, in case of a water main break or a shattered sewage line. Wet taps are extremely versatile and endlessly useful. But how is a wet tap procedure performed?
First, we install a tapping sleeve by bolting it around the pipe. Then we install a valve on to the tapping sleeve. Now, we pressure test these two permanent fixtures. Depending on the product being transported through the lines, the pressure must be below a certain threshold. This also allows us to ensure that the integrity of the system hasn’t been compromised. Once that has been accomplished, the tap is then created and the piece of pipe that has been cut away, known as the coupon, is retracted using the bit and the wet tap procedure in now complete.
Line stopping is a temporary way to stop the flow through a pipeline in order to carry out repairs, add new pipeline to the system, modify or maintain current systems, or create flow bypasses to go around damaged or obsolete parts of a line. These become especially important in case of emergency line breaks, because they allow us to quickly and efficiently stop the flow to the damaged section without affecting the service to all other sections of the pipeline.
There are a variety of uses for line stops and line plugging in general. The most common is repairs. Whether these repairs are scheduled or come as the result of an emergency break in the line, line stops allow us to get in, fix the problems, and get out again without too much interruption of service. The fantastic thing about these is that once the (line stopping) fitting is installed, it can be used again and again as situations arise. If you’re working on repairing an old system, a line stop can be an extremely lucrative investment.
Line stops can be used on almost every form of pipe carrying nearly any product that you can imagine. We currently work with Castile and Ductile Iron, PVC, Asbestos Cement, cylinder and non cylinder concrete, stainless steel, steel and copper pipe. These pipelines carry everything from potable, reclaimed and chilled water, to sewage, gasoline, jet fuel and natural gas. This is usually the last step that you can take as part of a (line stopping) procedure before having to shut down and drain an entire system, which can be costly, especially in a busy city environment.
There are numerous reasons that choosing a line stop over a valve insertion could be useful. Most of our clients use them for things such as new construction, bypassing old or damage systems, inspecting pipes, installing things like flow meters or simply opening a system up to carry out a little bit of custom engineering. These can be installed on nearly any type of pipe, whether or not it is currently under pressure, meaning that business as usual can carry on during installation and during whatever work you may or may not be planning.
First, we install and then test a line stop fitting. Once the testing is completed, a temporary valve is installed and we tap the line. Once the line has been tapped, we can install the line stop actuator and the stopping head. We then blow down the section of pipe for a safe working environment. Now, the piping modifications can be preformed. Once this is work is complete, we remove the Line Stoppper and we can install a completion plug and remove our temporary valve. Once installed, the line stop fitting can be used again and again as needed.
Here at Rangeline, we employ only the most experienced technicians in the industry to provide you with the best line stopping and tapping services in the field.
