Windsor Town Manager William Saunders is in the process of compiling information in response to an inquiry about the levels of fluoride present in town drinking water. Isle of Wight County School Board Chairman Jason P. Maresh recently shared some questions with the town pertaining to these levels. “I write to you today as a school board member representing two schools serviced by Windsor’s drinking water, and as a parent of children attending Windsor schools,” Maresh wrote in an email to Windsor Town Council.
Windsor High School (WHS) and Georgie Tyler Middle School (GTMS) are serviced by the town’s water, while Windsor Elementary School (WES) is serviced by a well belonging to the School Board. Isle of Wight County Schools (IWCS) Director of Community and Media Relations Lynn Briggs stated in a Monday, July 21, email that IWCS has had a fluoride mitigation plan in place at WES since 2012, which includes a reverse osmosis water treatment system specifically designed to reduce fluoride levels to meet recommended standards. “This concern is especially relevant because children under the age of 8 are more susceptible to dental fluorosis, a condition caused by excessive fluoride exposure during tooth development,” she stated. “As such, protective measures were prioritized for the elementary level first.”
She indicated that a reverse osmosis system has not yet been installed at GTMS and WHS. “I’ve taken the liberty of compiling the fluoride levels from Windsor’s annual water reports from 2015-24,” Maresh wrote. Windsor’s website provides Drinking Water Reports for the town from 2015-24, found at www.windsor-va.gov/page/public-works/.
In the town’s 2024 Drinking Water Report, it provides information about fluoride, including the following: “The Water Quality Data Table has a section reporting on the effects of excessive fluoride in drinking water. Parents should take note of the possible staining and pitting of permanent teeth in children under 9 years of age that could result from exposure to excessive amounts of fluoride.”
The fluoride level is measured in parts per million (ppm).
Two key terms relevant to the level of fluoride include Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) and Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG).
The 2024 water report states that MCLG is defined as follows: “The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.”
The 2024 water report then notes that MCL is defined as follows: “The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.”
The MCL and MCLG listed for Windsor in each of its Drinking Water Reports from 2015-24 is 4 ppm.
Following are the fluoride levels detected in Windsor’s drinking water according to the reports provided:
- 2024: 3.26 ppm
- 2023: 3.58 ppm
- 2022: 3.6 ppm
- 2021: 3.1 ppm
- 2020: 3.6 ppm
- 2019: 3.5 ppm
- 2018: 3.5 ppm
- 2017: 3.3 ppm
- 2016: 3.7 ppm
- 2015: 3.7 ppm
Windsor’s 2024 Drinking Water Report notes that the town’s water system did not have any violations that year.
However, it did include the following note about fluoride: “Fluoride in drinking water at half the MCL or more may cause mottling of children’s teeth, usually in children under 9 years old. Mottling, also known as dental fluorosis, may include brown staining and/or pitting of teeth and occurs only in developing teeth before they erupt from the gums. The public water system began quarterly monitoring in 2024 to determine compliance.”
Maresh submitted the following questions to the Town Council:
1.) Has Windsor Town Council studied these annual reports and/or discussed options for treating water to remove fluoride?
2.) What agency/company tests Windsor’s water, what is the method of testing, and what is the margin of error for test results?
3.) Does Windsor maintain water test results prior to 2015, and if so, would you provide that data to me?
4.) Is Windsor’s water tested at multiple locations within the town (multiple samples tested w/ results averaged), or is there a single sample tested?
5.) Assuming the water is tested using multiple samples, has a test ever resulted in an initial fluoride level exceeding the MCL of 4 ppm? If so, please provide that information.
At the July 8 Town Council meeting, Windsor Mayor George Stubbs said, “I have received and passed along to Mr. Saunders a (set of) question(s) about the fluoride levels in (the) town water for the Windsor High School and the Georgie Tyler Middle School. Mr. Saunders is taking that information, and he’s looking into it and working up a report that we can forward to the individual.”
Saunders confirmed on Tuesday, July 22, that he is in the process of compiling information.
Original article online at: https://www.smithfieldtimes.com/2025/07/29/windsor-researching-fluoride-levels-in-town-water/