WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Starting Tuesday, CFPUA will resume adding fluoride to drinking water coming from the Richardson Water Treatment Plant.

The Richardson plant serves customers in northern New Hanover County, including Murrayville, Wrightsboro, Porters Neck, and parts of Castle Hayne and Ogden. Its source water comes from groundwater wells.

Drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces cavities by about 25% in children and adults, according to the CDC.

CFPUA stopped adding fluoride to the water back in April 2018 after elevated levels of the substance were detected in the water.

Tuesday marks the first time since then that fluoride has been added to treated drinking water at Richardson. CFPUA routinely tests for fluoride in our drinking water to ensure it remains within acceptable concentration ranges.

Water treated at Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, which provides 80 percent of CFPUA’s drinking water, has continued to be fluoridated.