No, and there is no reason to. Bacteriostatic water is supplied sterile in a sealed vial and does not need re-sterilization. Autoclaving a sealed vial risks breaching the closure, and autoclaving the contents in an open container defeats the purpose: the vial is no longer sealed, part of the preservative can be lost, and the water is exposed to the autoclave environment.
What an autoclave does to a sealed vial
- Pressure on the closure. At 121 °C the vapor pressure of water is roughly twice atmospheric pressure. Inside a sealed vial that pressure, plus the expansion of the headspace air, pushes on the stopper and crimp. Manufacturers that terminally sterilize sealed vials do so in counter-pressure autoclaves designed to keep the closure seated; a general-purpose laboratory autoclave has no such control, so a lifted stopper or a hairline crack is a real possibility.
- Loss of preservative. In an open or vented container, benzyl alcohol is carried off with steam and the concentration falls below the 0.9% on the label. Heat also accelerates oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and benzoic acid. See benzyl alcohol oxidation.
- No documentation. The certificate of analysis covers the product as released. Once a vial has been reprocessed, none of the sterility, endotoxin, particulate or assay results on the COA apply to it any more.
What laboratories do instead
A vial that has been opened longer than its in-use period, stored outside its labeled conditions or found with a damaged closure is discarded, not reprocessed. The cost of a replacement vial is small compared with the cost of a preparation made with water whose sterility and preservative content are unknown. See disposing of vials and what to do after a temperature excursion.
Related
Is bacteriostatic water sterile? · Can bacteriostatic water be frozen? · How bacteriostatic water is manufactured
All BAC Water Supply products are supplied for laboratory research use only and are not for human or veterinary use.