Waters was appointed as a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Auckland in 1961, rising to the rank of associate professor. In 1983, she joined Massey University as a senior research fellow and associate professor in chemistry, and in 2000 she was made a full professor at Massey's Albany campus. Following her retirement, she was conferred with the title of professor emeritus.
Her research focused on the determination of molecular structure using X-ray crystallography. An early publication by Waters was the first to describe the structure of a coordination complex containing a metal–hydrogen bond.
Waters served as president of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry in 1989–1990, and was the first woman to hold the position.