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Business Segment Information - Summary of Net Sales of Company Recognized at a Point in Time Versus Over Time (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Apr. 01, 2017
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Product sales	$ 339,117	$ 324,296
Service sales	191,553	173,673
Total net sales	530,670	497,969
Waters Instrument Systems [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Product sales	198,103	197,789
Chemistry Consumables [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Product sales	98,710	87,903
Net Sales Recognized at a Point in Time: [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Service sales	72,518	67,502
Total net sales	411,635	391,798
Net Sales Recognized at a Point in Time: [Member] | Waters Instrument Systems [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Product sales	240,407	236,393
Net Sales Recognized at a Point in Time: [Member] | Chemistry Consumables [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Product sales	98,710	87,903
Net Sales Recognized Over Time: [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Service sales	$ 119,035	$ 106,171

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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- Definition

Aggregate revenue during the period from the sale of goods in the normal course of business, after deducting returns, allowances and discounts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

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- Definition

Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

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Aggregate revenue during the period from services rendered in the normal course of business, after deducting allowances and discounts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1(d))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

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