Step One: Educating the Public and Elected Officials

Along with other chemicals, cities in Illinois add fluoride to their water supply. Unlike chloride, fluoride is not added to make the water safer to use. It is a drug  we add because of the BELIEF that drinking it improves the health of our teeth. A BELIEF that has been transformed into a state law that mandates fluoride levels to be maintained at between 0.9 and 1.2 mg in every gallon. Our water department spends approximately $55,000 per year for about 85 tons of fluoride (likely in the form of Hydrofluorosilicic Acid). 


In April 2011, a spill of hydrofluorosilicic acid in Rock Island, Illinois, actually began to burn through parking lot cement in a water treatment facility before emergency crews arrived on the scene. To date, Aurora employees report they are not aware of any Hazmat incidences regarding fluoride.


Fluoride can reduce cavities by improving the strength and structure of the tooth enamel. Scientific evidence of many decades demonstrates this is true, especially when the fluoride is applied to growing teeth (by a dentist or during a simple swish and spit process - a technique often employed in small communities that cannot afford fluoridation processes for their water). There is little to no evidence that consuming fluoride has the same effect. Even prescription fluoride tablets - once very popular - haven’t been shown to reduce dental carries. On the contrary, there is a mounting body of evidence that regular consumption of fluoride can cause serious negative effects on health, especially bone health - effects that are not compensated for by reduced numbers of cavities. Ironically, excess fluoride is responsible for dental fluorosis. These negative effects are rare, but the probability of serious harm increases proportionately to the amount of fluoride ingested. 


Representative Richard Morthland (R, Moline) withdrew his bill of 2/15/2012 because of the large negative response he received from the public. His bill amends the Public Water Supply Regulation Act (last modified March 2010). Morthland’s proposal would repeal the provision requiring the addition of fluoride to public water supplies. Representative Morthland told me that his intent was not grounded in the health issues, but his attempt to remove an unfunded state mandate that could help save dollars spent on fluoride, allowing them to be better used elsewhere in the community. In a city the size of Aurora, $55,000 is a drop in the traditional bucket, but its still $55,000 (not to mention the cost of storing, properly handling, and adding the fluoride to the water).


Of course, the Aurora City Council cannot do anything to change the current mandates. It is important that you, and all citizens, become aware that we are spending tax dollars for something that is unnecessary, unhealthy, and which violates the liberty of every person who is forced to consume that drug against their own will.


Contrary to popular belief about cavities, Contrary to statements by the American Dental Association, and Contrary to current Illinois Law, consumption of fluoride is not healthy. Many communities and several countries have moved to stop the addition of fluoride to water - based on the reasons I mentioned tonight. When appropriate we will want to join those people to remove the mandate and stop adding fluoride. Our tax dollars can be better spent and our health can be improved.


Presented verbally to the City Council of Aurora, Illinois Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Style B

Style A

Installing a RO System at Home.

We’ve had filtered water (RO, Reverse Osmosis) in our pharmacy for quite some time. An outside company maintains it and changes filters when needed. The water is used for drinking and in the lab. We use a testing device that measures total dissolved solids (TDS). Our city water tests at around 300 parts per million (ppm). The filtered water is in the 20s. We filled a gallon regularly for our drinking water at home because we didn’t have room in our condo for a full setup with the storage tank. AN online search directed us to the company that actually sells the filtration device and we could buy it without the storage tank.

I called the company and the person on the phone explained how she has one that she stores in a cabinet and hooks up to the bathtub faucet when she needed to “make” water. We have a completely unused tub in our master bathroom and decided to give this a trial.


Both styles come with everything needed to hook up and start using. There are two versions. One is more compact because of how they arrange the filter bodies. We ordered the traditional one (Style A). The total price was $197.00 and included shipping. It arrived in three days. I read the instruction - very simple - and took the device to the bathroom. I unscrewed the aerator on the faucet and inserted the adapter. Then I hooked up the filter unit. The black tube runs into the filter. All RO units discard some of the water. It goes out another black tube and down the drain. Some people feel that this is wasteful. From my perspective, water is never actually wasted or lost. It moves around but doesn’t go away. The white hose delivers clean water - very clean water. It takes about thirty five minutes to fill a gallon jug.

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We purchased the unit from Pure Water Products in Denton, TX. Here's is what their website says about Style A;

• Full-sized system. This unit is identical to our  undersink units, except it's styled to operate as a countertop. Water enters the black vessel, passes through a carbon block filter, then goes to the reverse osmosis membrane (white horizontal vessel), then another carbon block filter (white vertical vessel).
• Standard Production: 50 gallons per day . This is an accurate figure. It takes us approximately 35 minutes to fill a one gallon jug. 
• Dimensions: 5.5" deep, 18" tall, 14.5" wide.
• Approximate Annual Upkeep: Less than $40 for filters per year / $55 membrane every three years or so

This unit can stand free, as shown, lie on its back, or be hung on a wall. It uses standard MatriKX carbon block 10-inch filter cartridges and a 50 gallon-per-day Filmtec membrane. We can alter the production upon request. (Vessel colors are negotiable. If you want all white, for example, let us know. Clear vessels — vertical only — are also available upon request at no increase in price.)
The two carbon block filters should be changed annually and the membrane approximately every third year. If you own a TDS Tester, you can usually save money on membrane changes.
Standard cartridges for this unit are MatriKX CTO prefilter (black housing) and MatriKX +1 post filter (white housing). 

Take it out, then put it back

I called the Aurora, Illinois Water Production Department (February 13, 2012). Archibald* tells me that the processing our water undergoes actually removes fluoride. Therefore, they have to add it back in order to meet government guidelines. In the "Water Quality Report 2010" we see that fluoride content is 1.0 PPM (Parts per million).  Archibald  tells me that the figure today is 1.2 PPM and that they add 0.55 to 0.6 to bring our water up to the required level, which is 0.92 to 1.2 PPM.

The "Water Quality Report 2010" demonstrates that Aurora processes up to 36.5 million gallons per day. That's 131.4 million liters. If they add 0.5mg per liter, that works out to 145 pounds per day, or 53,000 pounds per year. At about $1,000 per ton, we're likely spending over $50,000 per year to add sodium fluoride to our drinking water.

There is reportedly fluoride in both well water and river water.  Archibald  stated that the river fluoride surprised him, but there it is. I can offer a suggestion about how fluoride gets into the wells and the river. We've been dumping treated water into our water supply for decades. It doesn't go away, but accumulates.

I am not criticizing the Water Production Department. They are doing what they are told to do.  Still, I will be making it a priority to disclose the fluoride problem in our water and gather public support for a change in laws that require us to add such a toxic substance to the water.

Fluoride is a a chemical substance we rarely think about when we are evaluating all of the potentially harmful substances we consume every day. Maybe we OUGHT TO think about it. I did and I now have a reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system in my home that removes fluoride. Our RO system is from Pure Water Products. It cost $197.00 and took about ten minutes to install. We do not have a storage tank unit, but filling a jug is easy and we get a gallon in 35 minutes.I also have a chlorine filter on my shower head. We purchased it from Aquasana and we signed up for the automatic shipment -a new filter arrives every three months.



* Archibald  is not the name I was given on the phone. I made it up to protect the innocent.