The cost of compulsory fluoridation for Whangarei’s drinking water has increased by more than 50 per cent to $4.65 million – and ratepayers could end up paying.

Whangarei District Council (WDC) politicians will on Thursday vote on awarding the contract for building the plant to fluoridate Whangarei’s water to Northland-based Bellcon Construction, and committing $4.65 million plus GST to fund the chemical’s overall introduction.

About 60,000 Whangarei and Bream Bay residents are on track to be drinking fluoridated water by the end of 2024. The move comes after former Director-General of Health Sir Ashley Bloomfield in July 2022 ordered 14 councils to fluoridate, as the last major directive in that role.

WDC initially told the Ministry of Health it would cost $3,058,857 for the mandated fluoridation of its reticulated drinking water supplies.

That figure has now climbed to $4,658,857. This does not include the additional expected $500,000-$1m cost of adding fluoridation as part of WDC’s $30m Poroti water plant upgrade west of Whangarei.

WDC manager of water services Andrew Venmore said the increase was the difference between original engineers’ estimates and the more detailed subsequent work on what was involved.

It was also in conjunction with significant increases of up to 80 per cent in the cost of materials to be used in building the fluoridation infrastructure – in line with cost increases happening across the infrastructure sector.

Northland-based Bellcon Construction’s $3,866,288 plant construction contract makes up about 80 per cent of WDC’s $4.65m drinking water fluoridation implementation costs. These also include $628,300 for design, procurement and management and quality assurance by Auckland-based professional services consultants Beca, $38,869 for peer review by Wellington-based water and wastewater process engineering company Lutra, and $98,000 in already-incurred costs.

WDC has already budgeted $1.6m for the fluoridation in its current 2023/2024 financial year.

Its politicians’ contract decision on Thursday will also mean another $3,058,857 having to be forked out for the job.

The council initially applied to the Ministry of Health for $3.75m from a total budget of $11.3m to help the 14 councils ordered to fluoridate. It has subsequently gone back to the ministry with the revised $4.65m figure.

Venmore said a contract decision was needed in order to achieve required implementation deadlines.

The ministry had not confirmed any funding at the time of publishing.

Whangarei ratepayers will otherwise be paying for this fluoridation, from the council’s money in reserve, to cover the upgrades to its Poroti water treatment plant.

Venmore said he expected the money needed, in the first instance to fluoridate the Whau Valley water treatment plant, would be forthcoming for the 2023/2024 financial year.

None of Whangarei’s four water treatment plants are fluoridated.

Venmore said fluoridation would be in place for Whau Valley treatment plant by the end of June next year. Flouridation for Ruakaka, Maunu (Ruddells) and Waipa (Ahuroa) would be in place before the end of 2024.

He said WDC’s Three Waters functions were expected to have shifted to the Government’s new Entity A from July 2024, in which case the fluoridation costs for the Ruakaka, Maunu and Waipu plants would be carried by that body.

Bellcon Construction has been involved in building the Whau Valley water treatment plant which opened in 2021.

Venmore said the $30m Whau Valley plant had been built with space to install a fluoridation unit.

The Maunu water treatment plant will be the most expensive to fluoridate at $1,087,864, followed by its Waipa plant at $1,358,862, Ruakaka $920,035 and Whau Valley $499,525.

The Government’s Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 gives the Director-General of Health the power to direct a local authority to add fluoride to its drinking water supply.

Councils directed to fluoridate must do so and do not need to carry out public consultation.

At the time of the directive, Bloomfield said about 57 per cent of Whangarei adults had one or more teeth removed in their lifetime – due to decay, an abscess, infection or gum disease – compared with the 46 per cent national average.

“Overall, a person living in the Whangarei District Council area is likely to have significantly poorer oral health outcomes than the average person in New Zealand,” Bloomfield said.

“The data shows there are significant opportunities for improvement. There are inequitable oral health outcomes between Maori and non-Maori,” he said.

Bloomfield said fluoridating Whangarei and Bream Bay drinking water – at a rate of 0.7-1 milligrams a litre – would significantly reduce the prevalence and severity of dental decay. Fluoridation at these levels was considered safe and effective.

*Original full-text article online at: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/whangareis-drinking-water-fluoridation-costs-climb-as-government-mandate-kicks-in/XW3J4WP6NZF6ZDVUFUDA3G7ALY/