XML 125 R106.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.10.0.1

Business Segment Information - Summary of Net Sales for Company's Products and Services (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands | 3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended
--- | --- | ---
Dec. 31, 2018 | Sep. 30, 2018 | Jun. 30, 2018 | Mar. 31, 2018 | Dec. 31, 2017 | Sep. 30, 2017 | Jun. 30, 2017 | Mar. 31, 2017 | Dec. 31, 2018 | Dec. 31, 2017 | Dec. 31, 2016
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales | $ 715,019 | $ 578,021 | $ 596,219 | $ 530,670 | $ 687,275 | $ 565,584 | $ 558,250 | $ 497,969 | $ 2,419,929 | $ 2,309,078 | $ 2,167,423
Waters Instrument Systems [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1,000,625 | 988,750 | 943,218
Chemistry Consumables [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 400,287 | 372,157 | 345,413
TA Instrument Systems [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 204,081 | 191,442 | 171,665
Product [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1,604,993 | 1,552,349 | 1,460,296
Waters Service [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 738,433 | 686,656 | 639,432
TA Service [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 76,503 | 70,073 | 67,695
Service [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total net sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 814,936 | $ 756,729 | $ 707,127

X
- Definition 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. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DisaggregationOfRevenueLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130543-203045 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130539-203045 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130545-203045 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=wat_WatersInstrumentSystemsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=wat_ChemistryConsumablesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=wat_TaInstrumentSystemsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_ProductMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=wat_WatersServiceMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=wat_TaServiceMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_ServiceMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |