Frequently Asked Questions

Bacteriostatic water is sterile water with benzyl alcohol added as a preservative, which suppresses bacterial growth so the vial can be accessed more than once. It is used as a diluent and reconstitution solvent in laboratory research and analytical applications.

Yes. Bac water is the common short name for bacteriostatic water: sterile water preserved with 0.9% benzyl alcohol. Our 30 mL vial is the same product under either name.

Two ingredients: sterile water, and benzyl alcohol at 0.9% as the preservative. There is no salt, which is what separates it from saline. The benzyl alcohol level is tested by an independent laboratory on every lot and reported on the certificate.

BacterioWater is a laboratory research supplier specializing in research-grade bacteriostatic water. Our current catalog is 30 mL sterile bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol), available in packs of 1–200 vials and in wholesale quantities. The vials are filled by a third-party manufacturer in controlled lots and batch-tested by an independent laboratory; we stock and ship them with each lot's certificate published.

Plain sterile water contains no preservative and is intended for single access. Bacteriostatic water adds 0.9% benzyl alcohol, which suppresses bacterial growth so the vial can be accessed repeatedly with proper aseptic technique in laboratory settings. Our comparison of bac water, sterile water and water for injection covers the other grades.

No. BacterioWater is an independent laboratory supplier, not the manufacturer. The product is manufactured and filled by a third-party facility and tested by an independent laboratory before release. What we do is stock the finished vials, publish the certificate for the lot in hand, and ship it.

Open the Lab Testing & COA page and compare the lot code printed on your vial label to the certificates published there. If the two match, the results on that page are the results for the vial in your hand. If they don't, contact us at shipping@bacteriowater.com with the code and we'll confirm that lot's status.

Every production lot is tested for sterility, endotoxins, pH, and benzyl alcohol level before release. BacterioWater does not perform that testing — an independent laboratory does, and we publish its results in our COA library.

Independent laboratories — not BacterioWater. Each certificate we publish is the issuing laboratory's own document, with the lab's name, document number, and verification code printed on it, so the results can be checked at the source rather than taken on our word.

Orders placed by 2 PM ET, Monday to Friday are packed and handed to the carrier the same business day. Orders placed after the cutoff, at weekends, or on a public holiday go out the next business day. Delivery time after dispatch depends on the carrier service shown at checkout.

We currently ship only within the United States, and we don't ship to freight forwarders or package-forwarding addresses.

Yes — a tracking number is emailed to you at dispatch, and it covers the shipment from our facility to your address. The carrier (UPS or USPS) scans the parcel in transit, so the link stays current without you having to ask us for an update.

Checkout is completed on our secure Shopify-hosted checkout. Shipping and tax are calculated there, payment is processed by our payment provider, and your order ships tracked from the US with the same lot-controlled product documented here.

Yes — laboratories and organizations ordering 300 or more vials, or on a recurring schedule, go through our wholesale flow; packs of up to 200 vials are ordered online. Request wholesale pricing with your quantity and cadence and we'll follow up with a volume quote.

We don't accept physical returns of any kind, opened or unopened: these are sterile, lot-controlled products, and nothing that leaves us goes back into stock. If an order arrives damaged, incomplete, or wrong, email shipping@bacteriowater.com with your order number and photos, and documented damage, loss, or shipment errors are resolved with a replacement or credit. Refunds aren't given for change of mind or ordering the wrong quantity — see the Shipping & Returns page.

Our products are laboratory reagents labeled and sold for laboratory research use only. They are not for human or veterinary use, and we do not provide dosing, protocol, or medical instructions. The full RUO disclaimer is published on this site.

Follow the conditions printed on the label: controlled room temperature, 20 °C to 25 °C, out of strong light, and never frozen. Keep the stopper clean between accesses. Set aside any vial that is cracked, leaking, cloudy, discolored, or past the expiry date on its label rather than using it. Shelf life, refrigeration and expiry are covered in our storage guide.