POTSDAM — The village will use a powdered form of fluoride in its new fluoridation system, officials said. It will be initially more expensive, but much cheaper to maintain it.

“Well there’s lower operational costs. The handling of the chemical itself is less hazardous,” Fred J. Hanss, Potsdam’s planning and development director, said. “You’re dealing with 300-pound barrels of hydrofluosilicic acid versus 50-pound sacks of sodium fluoride. So from a material-handling standpoint it will be much easier.”

In the current system, acidic vapor comes off of the hydrofluosilicic acid resulting in corrosion of equipment in the room where the fluoride was added to the water.

That won’t happen with the new method, Mr Hanss said.

“So from an operations and maintenance standpoint much, much cheaper. The initial costs are a little higher, but the backup costs and the improvements and workers’ safety and chemical handling are good offsets of that,” Mr. Hanss said.

The current system uses a pump which implements a measured dose into the water based on the water levels — a higher water level results in a higher dose. The new system will also use the pump. Powdered sodium fluoride will be placed into a large drum, water will be added to dissolve the fluoride, and then it will be injected into the pumps that distribute water from the plant to the water tower on Clarkson Hill.

The total cost for the new fluoridation system is $55,000. Reasons for the increased initial higher cost are the demolition costs for removing the old system, repairing ventilation ducts, electrical work, and cleaning and painting the room.

*Original article online at http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news05/village-of-potsdam-to-implement-new-fluoridation-system-20181109

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