Hach Company manufactures and distributes analytical instruments and reagents used to test the quality of water and other liquid solutions.

Manufactured and distributed worldwide, Hach systems are designed to simplify analysis by offering on-line instrumentation, portable laboratory equipment, prepared reagents, easy-to-follow methods, and technical support.

The couple experienced their first business success through the development of a simplified titration method for measuring hardness in drinking water.

As the product line expanded to include more parameters and instruments, the company continued to “bring analytical chemistry out of the laboratory and put it into the workplace and in the hands of the general public.”[4] Initially, Kathryn Hach began marketing to municipal drinking water plants through direct mail.

It was also manufacturing a manometric apparatus that measured the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of sewage and industrial wastes in lakes, rivers, and streams.

Test results were achieved by visual comparison of samples against color standards after adding the prescribed reagents.

[4] In 1999, Hach became a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, which includes over 30 companies working in the process/environmental controls industries.

[7] Hach HST’s scientists and engineers set about developing a water distribution security system designed to detect and alarm operators to contaminants and accidents in real time.

[7] The result of their efforts was the first early warning system for drinking water designated and certified by the Department of Homeland Security.