[ CARE AND USE MANUAL ]
Waters Corporation
34 Maple Street
Milford, MA 01757 U.S.A.
T: 1 508 478 2000
F: 1 508 872 1990
www.waters.com
[ CARE AND USE MANUAL ]
Waters, The Science of What’s Possible, XSelect, ACQUITY, UPLC, Arc, Oasis, Sep-Pak, eCord, and VanGuard
are trademarks of Waters Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2022 Waters Corporation. Produced in the U.S.A. June 2022 720004163EN Rev E IH-PDF
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Maintain your water purification system so that
it is in good working order.
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Only use ultra pure water (18 megohm-cm) water and
highest quality solvents possible. HPLC-grade water
is not UPLC-grade water.
4. Avoid (where possible):
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100% aqueous mobile phases (if possible)
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HPLC-grade bottled water
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“Topping off” your mobile phases
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Old aqueous mobile phases. Remember to rinse bottles
thoroughly and prepare fresh every 24 to 48 hrs
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Using phosphate salt buffer in combination with high
ACN concentrations (e.g., >70%) due to precipitation.
5. Don’t: assume a “bad” column is the culprit when high
backpressure or split peaks are observed.
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Investigate cause of column failure
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Backpressure
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Mobile phase(s), bacteria, precipitation,
and/or samples
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Peak splitting
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Sample quality
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Injection solvent strength
6. Remember: the diameter of ACQUITY columns (1.0, 2.1,
and 3.0 mm I.D.) are often lower than that of a conventional
HPLC column and therefore, mobile phases last much longer.
To reduce the chances of mobile-phase contamination or
degradation, only prepare what you need for analysis or store
excess bulk quantities in a refrigerated environment.
7. Mobile-phase-related questions to ask:
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Am I using 100% aqueous mobile phases?
Am I able to add a small amount of organic
modifier to my mobile phase A?
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Do I filter my aqueous mobile phases
through 0.2 µm filters?
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How old is my mobile phase? Do I label
the bottle with preparation date?
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Do I “top off” or do I prepare fresh mobile
phases every 24–48 hrs?
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What is the quality of my water? Has the quality
recently changed? How is my water purification
system working? When was it last serviced?
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Am I working with pH 7 phosphate buffer
(which is VERY susceptible to bacterial growth)?
8. Sample-related questions to ask:
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If I inject neat standards prepared in mobile phase,
do I observe these problems?
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If I prepare my standards in water and prepare
them like samples (e.g.; SPE, filtration, etc.),
do I still observe these problems?
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Has the quality of my samples changed over time?
VI. CAUTIONARY NOTE
Depending on the user’s application, these products may be
classified as hazardous following their use, and as such are
intended to be used by professional laboratory personnel trained
in the competent handling of such materials. Responsibility for
the safe use and disposal of products rests entirely with
the purchaser and user. The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for this
product is available at
