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Property, Plant and Equipment (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	$ 684,613,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross	$ 659,349,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross
Accumulated depreciation and amortization of property, plant and equipment	(363,030,000)us-gaap_AccumulatedDepreciationDepletionAndAmortizationPropertyPlantAndEquipment	(334,417,000)us-gaap_AccumulatedDepreciationDepletionAndAmortizationPropertyPlantAndEquipment
Property, plant and equipment, net	321,583,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet	324,932,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Real Estate Impairment	5,000,000us-gaap_ImpairmentOfRealEstate
Fair value of building held-for-sale	4,000,000us-gaap_AssetsHeldForSaleLongLivedFairValueDisclosure
Property, plant and equipment retirements and disposals	10,000,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentDisposals	19,000,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentDisposals	6,000,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentDisposals
Gains on disposals of property, plant and equipment	1,000,000us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets
Property, plant and equipment disposition disclosures		Gains on disposal were $1 million during the year ended December 31, 2014 and were immaterial for both 2013 and 2012.	Gains on disposal were $1 million during the year ended December 31, 2014 and were immaterial for both 2013 and 2012.
Land and land improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	39,688,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_LandAndLandImprovementsMember	37,156,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_LandAndLandImprovementsMember
Buildings and leasehold improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	256,603,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = wat_BuildingsAndLeaseholdImprovementsMember	205,638,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = wat_BuildingsAndLeaseholdImprovementsMember
Production and other equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	367,716,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_OtherMachineryAndEquipmentMember	336,135,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_OtherMachineryAndEquipmentMember
Construction in progress [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	$ 20,606,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressMember	$ 80,420,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross / us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis = us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressMember

X

- Definition

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (c)

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-Section S99

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Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

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+ Details

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- Definition

Fair value portion of assets classified as held for sale.

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Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of property, plant and equipment assets, excluding oil and gas property and timber property.

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The charge against earnings in the period to reduce the carrying amount of real property to fair value.

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Amount of divestiture of long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

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Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

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Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

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