Central Arkansas Water, the Little Rock-based utility, has resumed adding fluoride to drinking water at a slightly reduced level, while the utility providing water for Conway may have to pause fluoridation later this week due to ongoing shortages.
Central Arkansas Water stopped adding fluoride in late August after running out of hydrofluorosilicic acid, the compound used to fluoridate drinking water. The utility provides water to around 500,000 people in its service area, including Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Utilities in the U.S. have experienced issues obtaining hydrofluorosilicic acid because of the war in Iran and associated supply chain disruptions. Israel is a major exporter of the chemical.
Central Arkansas Water spokesman Doug Shackelford said Tuesday that the utility received half a shipment of the chemical the previous day. The shipment — approximately one month’s supply — arrived at the Jack H. Wilson Water Treatment Plant.
Another half-shipment is expected to arrive at the Ozark Point Water Treatment Plant on Wednesday, he said. Once it arrives, officials will start fluoridating the water out of that plant.
Upon reintroducing fluoride to the system, utility officials lowered the fluoride level from the usual 0.75 milligrams per liter to 0.6 milligrams per liter “just to try to stretch out the supply a little further,” Shackelford said.
The utility provider for the city of Conway also is facing a hydrofluorosilicic acid shortage and may have to temporarily pause adding fluoride to drinking water later this week, officials said Tuesday.
A news release issued by Conway Corp said that if another shipment of the chemical does not arrive by Friday, the utility’s current supply will be depleted.
“Conway’s drinking water remains safe to drink,” the Conway Corp news release said. “A temporary reduction or absence of added fluoride does not affect the overall safety, cleanliness or quality of the city’s drinking water. Fluoride is added as a public health measure to help prevent cavities and tooth decay and is not used to disinfect or make drinking water safe.”
Under Arkansas law, water systems that serve 5,000 people or more must add fluoride at levels set by state health officials.
Fluoridation of water has been a contested issue in some communities. Last year, Utah became the first state to prohibit public entities from adding fluoride to drinking water.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has voiced opposition to adding fluoride and praised the move by Utah lawmakers.
A bill introduced during the 2025 regular session of the Arkansas Legislature would have ended the state’s fluoridation mandate. The state Senate approved the bill, but it failed to advance out of a House of Representatives committee and ultimately never passed.
Tad Bohannon, the chief executive officer of Central Arkansas Water, told the utility’s board last Thursday that going one month without fluoride in water would not have an impact on residents’ dental health in the long run.
Original article online at: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/sep/15/central-arkansas-water-adding-fluoride-again/