City of Regina's plan for fluoride in its water delayed until 2027

Adding fluoride to the City of Regina’s water supply has been delayed until 2027.

The city and Ryan Johnson, CEO of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation, confirmed the delay to CBC News this week.

It means fluoridated water will not begin flowing until mid- to late 2027.

Johnson said the delay comes after contractors carrying out upgrades at the Buffalo Pound water treatment plant failed to follow the correct plans when constructing the chlorine chemical building.

“They had not followed the plans and unfortunately the design that was done was assuming that the work [that] would have been done basically followed the plan. It didn’t,” Johnson said in a phone interview.

That means the design for the fluoridation equipment has had to be reworked, he said.

It’s the latest in a series of setbacks to a plan originally approved in 2021.

At the time, city council voted to adopt a water fluoridation program similar to the one currently operating in Moose Jaw.

The plan was approved after council heard strong scientific evidence of fluoridation’s benefits, including cavity reduction.

It was agreed that fluoride would only be added to the water after the water treatment plant renewal project was completed in mid-2025. Those upgrades were then delayed until March 2026.

An attempt to reverse the city’s decision failed last year.

The City of Regina is set to add fluoride to its water supply starting in early 2026. Now Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo wants to revisit the issue. Gerry Uswak, an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s college of dentistry whose area of expertise is dental public health, joined the Morning Edition to discuss why fluoride is put in drinking water.

Johnson said the general contractor is still on site working on the treatment plant renewal project and the area needs to be clear before work installing the fluoridation equipment can begin.

Johnson said the redesign and reworking are almost done and a tender for the fluoridation installment will be issued in the second quarter of this year. The contract will be awarded in the third quarter.

“By the time everything is installed and running, we’re thinking by summer 2027 everything should be running with fluoride flowing into Regina,” he said.

The delay is not expected to affect the project’s cost, but until the tender closes they will not know for sure, Johnson said.

Adding fluoride to Regina’s water was put to public referendums in 1954, 1958, 1965 and 1985. Each time, the public voted against it.

Original article online at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-water-fluoridation-delayed-2027-9.7115095