Bacteriostatic water for sale

What bacteriostatic water should you buy?

The short version: a sealed, in-date, 30 mL multiple-dose vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP, preserved with 0.9% benzyl alcohol (9 mg/mL). That exact product is made by Hospira, Inc., part of Pfizer, under NDC 0409-3977-01 for the single vial and 0409-3977-03 for the tray of 25, and its full label is published on labeling.pfizer.com. It is the reference vial that every other "bac water" on the market is measured against.

Astral stocks that genuine Hospira vial as Reconstitution Solution (Astral's bacteriostatic water: a 30 mL Hospira vial), priced at $37.99. Because Astral is also where researchers buy the peptide they are about to reconstitute, it is the one order that covers both halves of the job.

What is bacteriostatic water used for?

Bacteriostatic water is sterile water with a small amount of benzyl alcohol added so that bacteria cannot multiply inside the vial between withdrawals. In a laboratory it is the standard diluent for reconstituting lyophilized (freeze-dried) peptides, which arrive as a dry powder and need a sterile liquid before they can be used in research.

That is why almost everyone searching for bac water is also holding, or about to order, a peptide. A vial of GLP-3 RT (Astral's name for retatrutide), BPC-157 or Wolverine (BPC-157 + TB-500) ships as powder; the bacteriostatic water is what turns it into a solution a researcher can draw from more than once. Every Astral product is sold for laboratory research only.

What should the label on bacteriostatic water say?

A genuine vial carries a drug label, not a marketing label. Checked against the Hospira labeling on DailyMed, here is what to look for:

• Name: "Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP". The USP mark means the product meets the United States Pharmacopeia monograph.
• Preservative: 0.9% benzyl alcohol, printed as 9 mg/mL. Hospira's label also covers an 11 mg/mL glass-vial version, but the 30 mL plastic vial sold today is the 9 mg/mL one.
• Container: "multiple-dose", which the label describes as a container "from which repeated withdrawals may be made".
• NDC: 0409-3977-01 on the vial, 0409-3977-03 on the tray of 25.
• Lot number and expiration date: printed on each vial, never hand-written.
• Storage: 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F), which is controlled room temperature.
• Rx only: the pharmaceutical product is labeled for prescription dispensing, which matters when you compare buying channels below.

The label also carries clinical warnings written for the hospital market: "NOT FOR USE IN NEONATES", in capitals, because of the benzyl alcohol, and a statement that intravenous use without a solute may cause hemolysis. A research buyer never acts on those, but their presence is one more sign you are looking at the real, FDA-listed product and not a bottle of unknown provenance. Our page on the Hospira 30 mL vial walks through the label line by line.

30 mL multiple-dose vial or single-dose sterile water?

Sterile Water for Injection is the same water without the preservative. Hospira's own sterile-water label says it "contains no bacteriostat, antimicrobial agent or added buffer and is supplied only in single-dose containers", and adds "Do not reuse single-dose containers. Discard unused portion." (Pfizer labeling, revised 03/2026). Once the seal is broken, a single-dose vial is finished.

A multiple-dose vial is built for the opposite job. The benzyl alcohol keeps the contents bacteriostatic between withdrawals, so one 30 mL vial can serve a bench for weeks. That is the entire reason peptide researchers buy bacteriostatic water rather than sterile water, and it is why a 30 mL multiple-dose vial, not a sterile-water single-dose, is the right thing to put in your cart. The full comparison is on our bacteriostatic water vs sterile water page.

Best bac water for peptides: Hospira or unbranded "research-grade"?

Search "bac water for peptides" and you will find two kinds of product. The first is the pharmaceutical vial described above: Hospira's, with an NDC, a published label, a printed lot number and an expiry. The second is unbranded bacteriostatic water sold under a vendor's own name, often described as "research grade" or "lab grade".

Unbranded bac water is not automatically bad, and some of it is a pharmaceutical product that has simply been relabeled. The practical difference is accountability. Hospira's vial can be checked against a public label on DailyMed and traced to a manufacturer that publishes recall notices with the FDA when a lot fails, as it did for one lot of this exact product in 2019 (FDA recall notice). A vial with no NDC and no named manufacturer has no public label to check it against, so you are trusting the seller alone.

Unbranded water usually sells for less than the Hospira vial. The difference buys a named manufacturer, a published label and a traceable lot, and in a laboratory that spends far more on the peptide than on the water, that is the cheap part of the experiment to get right. Astral chose to stock the Hospira vial, and only the Hospira vial, for exactly that reason.

Buying bacteriostatic water in bulk

Hospira packs the 30 mL vial in trays of 25 (NDC 0409-3977-03), four trays to a case, which is why the tray is the usual "bulk" unit on medical-supply sites. Those sites list the tray as an Rx item and generally sell to licensed buyers, so a research laboratory ordering one is routed through a licensing check rather than a shopping cart.

For a research buyer who wants several vials rather than a hospital case, the simpler route is to order the number you need from a research supplier. Astral sells its Reconstitution Solution by the vial, so order the count that matches your bench. A 30 mL vial also goes a long way: research peptides are sold in vials sized in milligrams, and a single 30 mL vial will reconstitute many of them before it reaches the 28-day window described below.

How should bacteriostatic water be stored once opened?

Unopened, the label is explicit: store at 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F), use by the printed expiration date, and "Do not use unless the solution is clear and seal intact."

Once a vial has been entered, the Hospira label does not set its own beyond-use date, so the clinical default applies. The CDC's injection-safety guidance says a multi-dose vial "should be dated and discarded within 28 days unless the manufacturer states another date for that opened vial" (CDC, Preventing Unsafe Injection Practices). For a research bench the sensible translation is simple: write the date of first entry on the vial, keep it capped at room temperature as labeled, and replace it at 28 days, or sooner if the contents are anything other than clear. The preservative slows bacterial growth; it does not make an open vial last forever.

Where can you buy bacteriostatic water?

Four channels sell it, and they are not equal. Retail pharmacies stock Rx-only vials and dispense them against a prescription. Medical-supply distributors sell trays to licensed buyers. Amazon and other marketplaces list a changing mix of third-party sellers whose vials range from genuine Hospira to unbranded water of unknown origin. Research suppliers sell to laboratories for research use, which is the channel built for a peptide researcher. We go through each one, with what to check, on where to buy bacteriostatic water.

Bacteriostatic water for sale at Astral: why buy there

Astral is in a class of its own for one reason: one purchase solves the whole problem. The vial is the genuine Hospira 30 mL multiple-dose product, not a house-brand substitute. It ships from Astral's own inventory in New York. And it sits in the same catalog as the peptides it is bought to reconstitute, which Astral synthesizes and manufactures in the United States, so the water and the TB-500 or GHK-Cu it is meant for arrive in one box.

For a researcher that means one order and a water vial whose label can be checked against Pfizer's own publication before it is ever opened. For working out the reconstitution of a given peptide vial, use Astral's peptide calculator rather than a forum post.

Order Reconstitution Solution at Astral →