Sealed vials of bacteriostatic water (0.9% benzyl alcohol) – BAC Water Supply

How to Open a Bacteriostatic Water Vial

Opening a vial means removing the plastic flip-off button, and nothing else. The rubber stopper underneath stays crimped in place for the life of the vial; it is entered through, not removed. The whole sequence takes a minute, and most of it is checking and recording rather than opening.

Before opening

  • Confirm the label: bacteriostatic water, 0.9% benzyl alcohol, the expected volume, in date. See what should be on the label.
  • Inspect the vial against dark and light backgrounds: clear, colorless, no particles, crimp seal tight, button intact. A vial that fails any of these is not opened. See how to inspect a vial.
  • Let a vial that has just arrived reach room temperature.

Opening

  1. Push the plastic button up and off with a thumb. It detaches from the aluminum seal and is discarded; it cannot be replaced, which is the tamper-evident feature. See flip-off caps and crimp seals explained.
  2. The exposed center of the stopper is not sterile once the button is off. Wipe it with a 70% isopropyl alcohol swab using a single firm pass and let it dry completely, which takes about 30 seconds. Do not blow on it or fan it. See why 70% and not 99%.
  3. Enter the stopper with a fresh sterile transfer device only after the alcohol has dried, and withdraw only what is needed.
  4. Write the date opened and the discard date (28 days later) on a flag label, and log the vial. See how to label vials and the printable opened-vial log.

Two things people get wrong

  • Prying out the stopper. Removing the stopper turns a preserved multi-use vial into an open beaker: the contents are exposed to air and dust, the closure cannot be resealed, and the vial has to be treated as single-use and used immediately.
  • Wiping and entering while wet. Alcohol works as it evaporates; entering through a wet stopper carries residual alcohol and whatever it lifted into the vial. Wait for it to dry.

Between uses

Return the vial to its carton at 20–25 °C, wipe the stopper before every subsequent entry, and discard the vial on its discard date even if liquid remains. See how many times can a vial be punctured? and shelf life after opening.

All BAC Water Supply products are supplied for laboratory research use only and are not for human or veterinary use.

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