Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Oct. 27, 2017	Jul. 01, 2017
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	WATERS CORP /DE/
Entity Trading Symbol	WAT
Entity Central Index Key	0001000697
Document Type	10-Q
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2017
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 14,672,588,076
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		79,533,016