Waters® Corporation (NYSE: WAT) today celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the ACQUITY® UltraPerformance LC® (UPLC®) System, a technology that created a new industry standard for chromatographic performance.

“In 2004, we changed the game. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) wasn’t keeping pace with business demands to analyze more samples, faster and with better results. The introduction of ACQUITY UPLC in 2004 transformed laboratory science and the analytical science industry,” said Art Caputo, President of the Waters Division.

Over the last ten years, ACQUITY UPLC has had a profound effect on laboratories worldwide, both scientifically as well as from a business standpoint. The novel ability of the ACQUITY UPLC to perform separations on 1.7 micron particle technology coupled with the ability to operate at 15,000psi, (1,034 bar) opened  new possibilities for analytical testing. The narrow, more concentrated peaks of ACQUITY UPLC improved ionization efficiency. Enhanced resolution and robustness led to high-quality, reproducible analysis in significantly less time, reducing run times by up to a factor of 10 compared to HPLC technology.  Through this increased productivity, it has been shown time and again that one ACQUITY UPLC system typically displaces multiple HPLC instruments.

ACQUITY UPLC has also proven to be a sustainable solution for laboratories; saving energy, using less solvent and producing less waste. Again, in comparison to HPLC technology, laboratories utilizing ACQUITY UPLC save approximately 222 liters of

solvent per year. Over a ten-year period that equates to 5.5 million liters of solvent, which represents a cost savings of over a HALF BILLION USD to Waters’ customers.

In an effort to follow the success of ACQUITY UPLC, Waters’ competitors have brought various high-pressure LC instruments to market, known as UHPLC systems. But high pressure alone does not create the performance of UPLC. ACQUITY UPLC was designed holistically as a total system to leverage both ultra-high pressure and small particles.

Since 2004, Waters has introduced a succession of breakthrough products based on UPLC Technology. Products such as:

• The ACQUITY UPLC H-Class System - provides the flexibility and simplicity of quaternary solvent blending and a flow-through-needle injector to deliver the advanced performance expected of UPLC separations.
• The ACQUITY UPLC M-Class System - the system of choice for the highest quality nano to microscale UPLC separations, for every laboratory performing sample-limited LC/MS analyses.
• The ACQUITY UPLC I-Class System - the system of choice for high performance analytical scale LC/MS, offering superior low system dispersion and operation up to 18,000 psi (1,241 bar).
• The ACQUITY UPC²® System - the first convergence chromatography system, utilizing liquid CO2 as the primary mobile phase and applying the  performance advantages of UPLC to supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC).
• The ACQUITY APCTM System - the first new tool in 50 years to support the development of advanced polymers and other plastics.
• The PATROLUPLC® System - can detect and quantify all the analyses in complex, multiple-component in process samples and final product at the point of production.

“As Waters looks to the next ten years and beyond, the ACQUITY UPLC family of systems will continue to meet the needs of scientists worldwide. From pharmaceuticals to food safety, ACQUITY UPLC drives advancements in every application area,” added Caputo.

About Waters Corporation (www.waters.com)

For over 50 years, Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) has created business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality worldwide.

Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform for customer success.

With revenue of $1.90 billion in 2013, Waters is driving scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.