Wausau Water Works has reduced the amount of fluoride it adds to city drinking water to roughly half its normal level in response to a global supply disruption, and city officials are weighing whether to notify dental offices, schools and similar facilities.
Scott Boers, superintendent of the city’s drinking water division, told the Wausau Water Works Commission at its Aug. 12 meeting that the utility received a fluoride shipment the previous month and was told at the time that it might not receive another. The utility has since cut its fluoride levels to about half, Boers said.
Boers told commissioners the utility has been in communication with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which approved the reduction, and that he had contacted the health department director for further guidance.
Eric Lindman, director of public works and utilities, said the main reason for reaching out to the health department was to determine whether the utility should issue a specific notification to places such as dental offices and schools.
Mayor Doug Diny, who serves as commission president, said this month that the utility would monitor the situation and bring it back to the commission as necessary. No action was taken and the item was placed on file.
A national shortage
Wausau is one of a growing number of U.S. water systems scaling back fluoridation this year because of a shortage of hydrofluorosilicic acid, the compound utilities use to fluoridate drinking water.
The chemical is produced by a small number of manufacturers, most of them overseas, and Israel is among the world’s leading producers. Supply has been disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East. Water system managers have described the resulting shortage as unprecedented.
The U.S. Public Health Service recommends a fluoride concentration of 0.7 milligrams per liter in drinking water. Utilities including Baltimore’s water system and WSSC Water, which together serve more than 3 million customers in Maryland, announced in April that they were cutting levels to 0.4 mg/L. In Maine, the shared Lewiston-Auburn treatment plant stopped fluoridating entirely on July 30 after a June shipment never arrived, ending more than 50 years of fluoridation there.
Closer to home, Milwaukee Water Works reduced its fluoride levels this summer after its Texas-based supplier, Pencco, notified the utility in June that it was backing out. Milwaukee Water Works Superintendent Patrick Pauly said the reduction does not affect the safety of drinking water delivered to roughly 950,000 customers in southeastern Wisconsin.
What the state says
Wisconsin does not require water utilities to add fluoride. Steve Elmore, director of the DNR’s Drinking Water and Groundwater Program, said in August that the agency is aware of the shortage and asked utilities having trouble maintaining supply to notify the DNR of any change to their fluoride feed rate.
Elmore said changes to fluoride levels do not affect water quality, though residents may want to take additional steps to maintain oral health. Public health agencies generally point to fluoride toothpaste, regular dental visits and, for children, fluoride varnish or supplements prescribed by a dentist or physician as options when community water fluoridation is reduced.
The Wausau Water Works Commission meets next at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 407 Grant St. Fluoride is not on the published agenda. The meeting can be viewed on the city’s YouTube channel and on Channel 981.
Original article online at: https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2026/08/31/wausau-has-cut-fluoride-in-city-drinking-water-by-about-half-amid-national-shortage/