Potsdam gets engineering report on fluoride

POTSDAM — A new engineering report, from Environmental Design and Research, finds that a new method of implementing fluoride into the village’s water, though more costly, will yield savings in repairs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends having 0.7 milligrams per liter of fluoride in water, which reduces demineralization of tooth enamel and increases remineralization rates in the early stages of tooth decay. The village’s water naturally has 0.2 milligrams per liter, so 0.4 milligrams per liter of fluoride needs to be pushed through valves, pumps and drums and finally into the water supply. The village’s current process allows vapors to seep from the equipment — vapors which corrode the equipment.

“The room equipment including scale, pipe support frame, metal ductwork, and electrical components, as well as the adjacent pump room show evidence of corrosion as a result of exposure to hydroflousilic acid vapor,” the study says.

Environmental Design and Research offered three options: doing nothing, replacing equipment with more of the same, or using a different technique known as a sodium fluoride saturation system. The latter would be the most expensive option, but would ensure lower maintenance costs and less acute health impacts. Also, with the new technique, less vapor would escape, thus requiring fewer repairs.

In an upcoming village board meeting, most likely the one on Aug. 20, the board will decide whether to take one of the recommended options or choose a fourth — removing fluoride from the water completely — an option that many government and health officials strongly oppose.

“The St. Lawrence County Board of Health strongly urges the Village of Potsdam to continue fluoridation of water in the village,” a press release from Dana Olzenak McGuire, St. Lawrence County’s public health director, said.

“Fluoridated water is effective, because it keeps a low level of fluoride in the mouth, specifically in the dental plaque and saliva, all day. … Although dental health has improved for many Americans in recent decades, tooth decay remains the most common chronic childhood disease — five times more prevalent than asthma,” the news release said.

*Original article online at http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news05/potsdam-gets-engineering-report-on-fluoride-20180805

See past articles on the Potsdam fluoridation issue: