Fluoride
Overview
Fluoride occurs naturally and is sometimes added at low levels to help prevent tooth decay. The health-based limit protects against effects that only occur at much higher, long-term levels.
In Florida, Fluoride was found in 692 community water systems serving about 8,891,654 people. 1 of those readings was above the federal legal limit, together serving 102,000 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 44% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at West Palm Beach WTP in Palm Beach County, at 146% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits; water additive that promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.
The standards
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
California OEHHA PHG (1997).
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Bone disease (pain and tenderness). Mottled teeth in children.
The health goal is set on health alone. The legal limit is set as close to it as is technically and economically feasible, so treatment cost and available technology are written into the number a utility is measured against. A system at or under the limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet. Both numbers are shown so the distance between them is visible.
What removes it
Reverse osmosis is the practical household method, and activated alumina also removes it. Carbon does not, and neither does a softener, which is worth saying plainly because both are often sold as though they do.
Treatment guidance describes the methods generally used for this contaminant. What your own tap actually carries depends on your plumbing and your service line as much as on the utility, which is what a test at the house tells you and an annual report cannot.
Where in Florida
Highest reported levels
Showing the 25 highest of 692 systems that reported Fluoride.
Data Sources
These figures describe water as delivered by each utility, not what your home’s plumbing adds after it arrives. Informational; not a substitute for testing your own tap.