Borrowings (Narrative) (Details)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended									6 Months Ended							0 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Dec. 06, 2010 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011	Jul. 15, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 27, 2011	Apr. 15, 2010 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Minimum [Member]	Apr. 15, 2010 Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Maximum [Member]	Apr. 15, 2010 Maximum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Letters of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Swing Line Loans [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Term Loan [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 18, 2008 Term Loan [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 IDEX UK Ltd [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 IDEX UK Ltd [Member] GBP (£)	Jun. 30, 2011 Fluid Management Europe B.V.,[Member] USD ($)	Jun. 09, 2010 2.58% Senior Euro Notes [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 09, 2010 2.58% Senior Euro Notes [Member] EUR (€)	Jun. 30, 2011 2.58% Senior Euro Notes [Member]	Dec. 06, 2010 4.5 % Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 15, 2010 4.5 % Senior Notes [Member] USD ($) years	Jun. 30, 2011 4.5 % Senior Notes [Member]
Revolving facility closing date		June 27, 2011
Replaced credit facility due to expire		$ 600,000,000	$ 600,000,000
Replaced credit facility expiration date		December 2011	December 2011
Revolving facility principal amount			700,000,000									75,000,000	25,000,000
Revolving facility expiration date			June 27, 2016
Aggregate commitments of designated borrowers under the Credit Facility		950,000,000	950,000,000
Current borrowings under revolving facility												7,000,000				19,200,000	12,000,000	0
Applicable margin over LIBOR		1.05%	1.05%					0.875%		1.70%
Annual credit facility fee basis point rate spread over LIBOR		20	20
Net available borrowing under Revolving Facility		318,800,000	318,800,000
Unsecured senior bank term loan agreement amount															100,000,000
Current amount outstanding of unsecured senior bank term loan														82,000,000
Senior unsecured long term debt basis point spread over LIBOR, minimum														45
Senior unsecured long term debt basis point spread over LIBOR, maximum														100
Applicable margin, basis point spread over LIBOR														80
Interest rate exchange agreement expiration date		December 2011	December 2011	December 2011
Notional amount		82,000,000	82,000,000
Floating-rate debt converted into fixed-rate debt		100,000,000	100,000,000
Interest rate														4.00%
Current margin, basis point spread over LIBOR														80
Principal amount of private placement																			96,800,000	81,000,000
Stated interest rate																			2.58%	2.58%		4.50%
Debt instrument maturity period																			June 9, 2015	June 9, 2015		December 15, 2020
Debt instrument maximum amount outstanding																			750,000,000
Repayment, minimum percentage outstanding																					5.00%
Debt instrument face amount																						300,000,000
Net proceeds from debt offering																						295,700,000
Debt offering initial discount																						1,600,000
Interest rate contract settlement																							31,000,000
Interest rate contract settlement term																							10
Interest rate contract settlement, interest rate, effective percentage							5.80%
Leverage ratio						3.25 to 1.0			3.0 to 1		3.25 to 1
Debt offering underwriting commission																						1,900,000
Estimated offering expenses																						800,000
Outstanding repayment of indebtedness	250,000,000
Contingent percentage of principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest																								101.00%
Interest rate contract with notional amount					350,000,000		300,000,000
Revolving Facility		$ 374,200,000	$ 374,200,000