For Your Information – Fluoride in the Water
Did you know that the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission stopped adding fluoride to the drinking water system in 2013?
… W.O. (Billy) Simmons, Jr., the Superintendent of the Water Production Division of the JWSC, offered his perspective of an experience that he has been involved in for most of his adult life, having started at the City of Brunswick Water Department in 1983. “Over thirty years ago, the City of Brunswick was adding fluoride. The GA EPD [Environmental Protection Division] provided grants for the purchase of equipment to start injecting fluoride. We had five stations at the time and the equipment was added at once in the early 1980s,” Simmons said (2016).
… So, why did the JWSC stop adding fluoride? As mentioned above, Billy and his staff were able to determine that the naturally occurring fluoride levels were adequate to maintain prevention of dental caries. Discontinuance of fluoridation was not a decision that was taken lightly. “When it was being phased out, we had to submit a request to the EPD office in Atlanta to discontinue use, a process that started in early 2012, was approved in late 2012, and our supply was all used up in the first quarter of 2013,” Billy stated. “We tend to drink more water in warmer climates, so the optimum level would have been less in our water than in colder climates. Some utilities in areas up north have to reduce naturally occurring fluoride. Therefore, we had to defend our decision with the EPD as to what would make the most sense here in the Golden Isles.” Asked if it were possible that the JWSC would resume the practice, Billy added “It’s unlikely that we would add it again because the naturally occurring level is adequate. We’d then have to modify the permit with EPD, if we did. As long as the permit modification process takes, it wouldn’t be something that would be done in a hurry, anyway. We still regularly get calls from people, especially those that move in from other locations, that are curious about our fluoridation policy and are happy to hear to that we don’t add any.”
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• Note from FAN:
According to the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Water Quality Report for January 2015 to December 2015:
Fluoride Levels Detected by System(d):
.42-.92 mg/L: PW# 1270000
.51-1.08 mg/L: NM PW# 1270142
.51-.94 mg/L: SM PW# 1270150
.46-.96 mg/L: SSI PW# 1270001
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