BACWater

Bacteriostatic water, commonly shortened to BAC water, in Canada is supplied by Horizon Peptides as a sterile 30 ml vial, available singly or in 3-bottle and 5-bottle packs. It is a laboratory diluent consisting of water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol added as a preservative.

The difference between this and plain sterile water is the benzyl alcohol. At 0.9% it acts as a bacteriostatic agent, meaning it inhibits bacterial growth rather than killing organisms outright, which is what allows a vial to be drawn from more than once rather than being discarded after a single use.

It is described as non-pyrogenic, meaning free of the bacterial fragments that provoke a fever response, a specification that matters for laboratory materials independently of sterility.

Within this catalogue its role is as the companion product to the lyophilized vials: powdered research material has to be brought into solution before it can be worked with, and this is the standard diluent for that purpose.